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ALASKA, 

OUR   BEAUTIFUL  NORTHLAND 
OF  OPPORTUNITY 


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(See  page  226) 


ALASKA 

OUR  BEAUTIFUL  NORTHLAND 
OF  OPPORTUNITY 


A  Description  of  Its  Rivers,  Mountains,  Glaciers,  Volcanoes, 
and  Other  Beautiful  and  Unusual  Scenic  Features  and  of  the 
Rare  Delights  It  Offers  Travellers,  Big  Game  Hunters,  Moun- 
tain Climbers,  Explorers ;  Its  Towns  and  Pioneer  Settlements ; 
The  Government  Railroad  and  Mount  McKinley  National 
Park;  Its  Rich  Resources;  Its  Openings  for  New  Business 
Enterprises ;  Its  Indians,  Their  Primitive  Customs  and  Pres- 
ent Development ;  Its  Romantic  Early  History  When  Rus- 
sian, Spanish,  and  Other  Nations  Sought  Its  Wealth;  the 
Gold  Rush  Days;  Its  Present  Progress  and  Bright  Future 


BY 


AGNES  RUSH  gjJRR 


With  a  map  and  fifty-four  plates 
of  which  six  are  in  color 


THE    PAGE     COMPANY 
BOSTON    *   PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1919,  by 
The  Page  Company 

All  rights  reserved 


Made  in  U.  S.  A. 


First  Impression,  June,  1919 
Second  Impression,  January,  1920 


PRINTED  BY   C.    H.    SIMONDS   COMPANY 
BOSTON,    MASS.,    U.  S.  A. 


DEDICATED 

TO 

THE  MEN   AND  WOMEN 

WHO  KNOW   AND  LOVE  THE  NORTH 


PREFACE 


In  offering  this  volume  to  the  American  people,  the 
desire  has  been  to  bring  to  them  an  adequate  picture,  so 
far  as  is  possible,  of  the  great  treasure  house  that  is  theirs 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  continent. 

Alaska  is  a  land  of  beautiful  scenery  and  of  almost 
inexhaustible  resources.  It  is  a  land  with  a  romantic 
history,  and  a  land  of  interesting  people,  whether  these 
be  the  sturdy  pioneers  and  their  descendants  with  their 
tales  of  early  days,  the  Indians,  and  the  rapid  progress 
they  are  making  on  their  march  toward  civilization,  or 
the  prospector  with  pack  on  back  on  his  tireless  quest 
for  gold. 

It  is  a  land  also  of  many  opportunities.  In  size  about 
one-fifth  of  the  whole  United  States,  in  resources  almost 
equal  in  variety  to  those  of  the  entire  country,  Alaska 
as  yet  has  but  comparatively  a  small  population  and  few 
industries.  New  business  enterprises  in  almost  count- 
less number  await  the  seeing  eye  and  earnest  hand  of  the 
shrewd  business  man  and  woman. 

Alaska  can  be  reached  by  modern,  well-appointed 
steamers  over  a  route  that  has  few  equals  in  the  coun- 
try or  abroad  for  beauty  of  scenery.  It  can  be  travelled 
through  by  rail  and  other  equally  well-appointed  boats. 
There  is  even  a  three-hundred-mile  motor  trip  that  can 
be  taken  in  the  heart  of  the  country  through  majestic 
scenery  not  to  be  matched  elsewhere  on  a  motor  highway 
in  the  world.  There  is  no  discomfort  in  travelling  in 
Alaska  and  there  is  always  natural  beauty  of  a  high  order 
and,  in  many  places,  a  touch  with  the  primeval  that  is 
novel  and  fascinating.     Alaska  has  been  called  "Our  last 


viii  Preface 

frontier,"  yet  it  is  a  frontier  that  can  be  viewed  from 
steamer  decks,  observation  cars  and  automobiles. 

These  facts  it  has  been  the  desire  to  set  forth  in  detail 
that  the  people  of  onr  country  may  realize  and  appreciate 
to  the  full  all  that  Alaska  has  to  give  them.  It  is  a  great, 
enjoyable,  health-giving  playground.  It  is  a  rich  store- 
house of  many  things  we  need  in  the  business  world  and 
in  the  home.  It  is  a  field  to  which  we  can  turn  with 
bright  faces  for  new  opportunities  to  work,  and  in  the 
development  of  these  opportunities  develop  afresh  that 
hardihood,  resourcefulness  and  initiative  that  have  made 
the  American  people  what  they  are  to-day. 

In  gathering  the  material  to  present  these  facts,  grate- 
ful acknowledgment  is  due  the  many  who  have  so  kindly 
and  generously  helped  with  information,  with  illustrative 
material,  with  aid  in  getting  into  sections  otherwise  inac- 
cessible. Among  these  are  many  government  officials 
both  at  Washington  and  in  Alaska,  some  of  them  being 
Secretary  Franklin  K.  Lane,  of  the  Department  of  the 
Interior,  Mr.  E.  C.  Bradley,  Assistant  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  Mr.  Thomas  Riggs,  Jr.,  Governor  of 
Alaska;  also  Mrs.  E.  H.  Harriman,  who  kindly  furnished 
photographs  of  regions  not  penetrated  yet  by  the  profes- 
sional photographer;  Dr.  Leonard  S.  Sugden,  the  well- 
known  lecturer,  whose  many  years  of  residence  in  Alaska, 
especially  during  the  early  years  of  its  development,  make 
him  not  only  an  authority  on  Alaskan  matters  but  furnish 
the  eye-witness  viewpoint  that  is  so  interesting  and  val- 
uable; Mr.  J.  L.  McPherson,  of  the  Alaska  Bureau  of  the 
Seattle  Chamber  of  Commerce,  who  has  made  the  study 
of  Alaska  almost  his  life  work;  Mr.  Kenneth  Kerr  of 
the   Seattle   "Railway   and   Marine   News,"   and   many 

others. 

Agnes  Rush  Burr. 


CONTENTS 


• -♦ 

CHAPTER  P*^^ 

Preface vii 

I    Alaska  at  a  Glance i 

II    From  Seattle  Northward 15 

III  Into  American  Waters 30 

IV  Wrangell  to  Skagway 43 

V    Skagway  and  the  White  Pass 55 

VI  Beautiful  Lake  Atlin 72 

VII  On  to  Dawson 84 

VIII  The  Dawson  of  To-day loi 

IX  The  Dawson  of  Yesterday 11 1 

X  Dawson  to  Fairbanks 129 

XI  Fairbanks,  the  Golden  Heart  of  Alaska      .    .144 

XII  Motoring  Three  Hundred  Miles  in  the  Heart 

OF  Alaska iSS 

XIII  To  the  Westward 168 

XIV  From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  via  the  Yukon      .    .185 
XV  Little-Known  Regions  of  Alaska 206 

XVI    Sitka  and  Alaska's  History 218 

XVII    Alaska's  Romantic  History 228 

XVIII    Forests  and  Flowers 249 

XIX    The  Wild  Animal  Life 257 

XX  The  Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory  268 

XXI     Alaska's  Fishing  Industries 293 

XXII    Furs  in  Richness  and  Variety 308 

XXIII  The  Agricultural  Possibilities  of  the  Territory  320 

XXIV  Transportation  Problems 333 

XXV    The  Natives  and  Their  Education 360 

XXVI    Life  in  Alaska 383 


X  Contents 


PAGE 


CHAPTER 

XXVII    Business  Opportunities  That  Alaska  Oefers    .  390 
XXVIII    The  Present  Complicated  Government      .     .     .401 

Bibliography 421 

Index 423 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


-♦■ — 

PAGE 


Lover's  Lane,    Indian   Park,   Sitka  {In  full  color).     {See 

page  226) Frontispiece 

MAP  OF  ALASKA i 

A  View  of  ti-ie  Inside  Passage 5 

Victoria,  from  the  House  of  Parliament          ...  19 

Indians  in  Their  Potlatch  Costumes 24 

Ketchikan 38 

Wrangell 40 

Wrangell  Narrows  {In  full  color) 44 

Juneau 49 

Icebergs  in  Taku  Inlet  {In  full  color)          .        .        .        ■  52 

Skagway  and  Lynn  Canal 5^ 

The  Steel  Cantilever  Bridge  on  the  White  Pass  Route  67 

Lake  Atlin      .        .        . 74 

Llewellyn  Glacier 82 

White  Horse  Rapids 86 

The  Yukon  Dogs 92 

Main  Street,  Dawson 102 

A  Bird's-eye  View  of  Dawson 106 

A  Pack  Train  of  Early  Days 116 

A  Street  Scene  in  Dawson  in  the  Early  Days        .        .120 
A  New  Camp  after  a  Gold  Discovery       .        .        .        .122 

"Wooding  Up" 132 

The  Midnight  Sun i35 

Fairbanks 146 

"Occasionally  a  Little  Lake  Appears"  {In  full  color)       .  158 

Childs  Glacier 167 

Columbia  Glacier 171 

Dutch  Harbor 182 


xii  List  of  Illustrations 

PAGE 

A  Typical  Yukon  Settlement 190 

A  Street  Scene,  Nome i94 

Mining  on  Tundra,  near  Nome 198 

A  Street  Scene,  Sitka 220 

"Madonna  and  Child,"  in  the  Greek  Church,  Sitka      .  222 

The  Scenic  Beauty  the  Early  Explorers  Discovered     .  233 

Resurrection  Bay 240 

Wild  Flow'ers  {In  full  color) 250 

Spruce  Trees,  Sitka 255 

A  Herd  of  Caribou 258 

A  KoDiAK  Bear 260 

Panning  for  Gold 270 

Hydraulicking 272 

Copper  at  Cordova,  Ready  to  be  Shipped         .        .        .278 

A  Marble  Quarry 285 

An  Acre  of  Herring 294 

A  Day's  Catch  of  Walrus 3^4 

Seals  on  Pribilof  Islands 2>'^^ 

A  Fox  Farm 3i6 

Field  of  Grain  on  the  Government  Experimental  Farm  at 

Fairbanks 327 

"Mush  on,  You  Huskies" ii^ 

Building  the  Government  Railroad 339 

A  Bird's-eye  View  of  Seward 345 

Mt.  McKinley 350 

A  Native  Alaskan  Indian 3^i 

An  Alaskan  Sunset  {In  full  color) 384 

The  Meeting  of  the  Old  and  the  New     .        .        .        .412 


^ 


^ 


ALASKA 


OUR  BEAUTIFUL   NORTHLAND 
OF   OPPORTUNITY 


CHAPTER   I 

ALASKA  AT  A  GLANCE 

What  Muir,  Burroughs,  Henry  Gannett,  and  others  have 
to  say  of  its  scenery.  russia  making  history  on  the 
western  coast  when  the  colonies  were  struggling  for 

INDEPENDENCE.      ThE     TIDE     OF     WEALTH     THAT     POURS     FROM 

Alaska.    Facts  about  Alaska  geographically  that  sur- 
prise THOSE  unfamiliar  WITH  THE  COUNTRY. 

William  H.  Seward,  Governor,  United  States 
Senator,  and  Secretary  of  State  during  Lincoln's  and 
Johnson's  administrations,  v^as  once  asked  what  he  con- 
sidered the  most  important  act  of  his  pubHc  career. 

"  The  purchase  of  Alaska,"  was  the  prompt  reply. 
"  But  it  will  take  the  people  a  generation  to  find  it  out." 

It  has  taken  them  longer  than  that.  Even  yet  to 
many  the  name  brings  visions  of  a  region  remote,  inac- 
cessible, associated  in  thought  with  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
Bering  Sea,  and  the  Arctic  Circle,  and,  therefore,  cold, 
desolate  and  uninhabitable.  This  understanding  of 
Alaska  is  due  largely  to  the  pictures  and  stories  first 
circulated  about  it  of  Eskimos,  fur  clothing,  dog  sleds, 
icebergs,  snow  mountains,  and  glaciers.  When  the  gold 
rush  of  '98  focussed  the  eyes  of  the  world  upon  it  for  a 

1 


2  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

time,  the  tales  of  hardship  brought  by  those  who  re- 
turned only  served  to  strengthen  this  belief  in  its 
inaccessibility  and  desolation.  Thus  in  the  general 
thought  it  still  remains  a  place  to  be  reached  only  with 
difficulty  and  discomfort,  and  of  little  interest  or  value. 
An  illustration  of  this  widespread  misapprehension  was 
given  only  a  year  ago  by  a  well-known  Eastern  firm  of 
map  makers  who  wrote  to  a  customer  at  Sitka  that  they 
could  not  ship  his  order  before  navigation  closed  there 
for  the  winter  and  so  would  hold  it  until  spring. 

For  those  who  thus  regard  Alaska,  there  are  in  store 
many  delightful  surprises;  for  when  they  come  to  know 
the  country  as  it  is,  they  will  find  it  a  land  of  magnificent 
scenery,  romantic  history,  primitive  people  of  unusual 
interest,  and  with  a  population  that  wins  admiration  for 
the  hardihood  and  initiative  it  has  shown.  For  those 
who  look  for  more  practical  things,  the  country  has  re- 
sources that  astound  by  their  richness,  and  opportunities 
for  new  industries  so  great  they  can  scarcely  be  visioned. 

Its  scenery  is  unequalled  in  the  known  regions  of  the 
world.  Addison  Powell,  a  member  of  several  United 
States'  Geological  surveying  parties,  says,  "  The  scenery 
of  Alaska  is  finer  than  Switzerland,  the  Austrian  Tyrol, 
Venice,  Vesuvius,  and  the  Bay  of  Naples."  Varied  as 
this  category  is,  Alaska  can  fulfill  its  requirements,  for  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  can  be  found  beauty  that 
answers  to  all  these  descriptions.  Its  snow  peaks  and 
glaciers  far  surpass  those  of  Switzerland.  Sitka  has  been 
likened  by  many  to  Venice.  Mt.  Katmai  far  outrivals 
Vesuvius.  The  coloring  and  contour  of  the  many  har- 
bors that  indent  the  coast  surpass  in  beauty  the  Bay  of 
Naples.  In  making  these  comparisons  there  is  no  thought 
of  boast  fulness  or  the  mere  flaunting  of  superiority. 
Every  part  of  this  beautiful   world  has  its   individual 


Alaska  at  a  Glance 


charm.  But  certain  places  have  long  been  accepted  as 
standards  in  the  matter  of  scenic  beauty.  Alaska  is 
compared  with  these  that  the  unfamiliar  may  take  form 
through  the  familiar. 

The  late  Henry  Gannett,  President  of  the  Geographical 
Society  and  a  member  of  the  Harriman  Expedition,  that 
interesting  party  of  scientists,  writers,  artists  and  explor- 
ers, who,  at  the  invitation  of  Mr.  E.  H.  Harriman,  spent 
the  better  part  of  a  summer  on  his  private  yacht  cruising 
in  Alaskan  waters  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  physi- 
cal characteristics  of  the  country,  says  of  its  scenery: 
"  There  are  glaciers,  mountains,  and  fiords  elsewhere,  but 
nowhere  else  on  earth  is  there  such  an  abundance  and 
magnificence  of  mountain,  fiord  and  glacier  scenery.  For 
thousands  of  miles  the  coast  is  a  continual  panorama.  For 
the  one  Yosemite  of  California,  Alaska  has  hundreds. 
The  mountains  and  glaciers  of  the  Cascade  Range  are 
duplicated  a  thousand-fold.  The  Alaska  coast  is  to  be- 
come the  show  place  of  the  earth,  and  pilgrims  from  far 
beyond  the  United  States  will  throng  in  endless  procession 
to  see  it."  And  in  conclusion  he  says,  "  There  is  one  word 
of  advice  and  caution  to  be  given  those  intending  to  visit 
Alaska  for  pleasure,  for  sightseeing.  If  you  are  old,  go 
by  all  means;  but  if  you  are  young,  wait.  The  scenery 
of  Alaska  is  much  grander  than  anything  else  of  the  kind 
in  the  world,  and  it  is  not  well  to  dull  one's  capacity  for 
enjoyment  by  seeing  the  finest  first." 

John  Burroughs,  who  was  also  of  this  party,  says, 
"  Probably  the  finest  scenery  of  the  kind  in  the  world  that 
can  be  seen  from  the  deck  of  a  ship."  John  Muir,  the 
great  nature  lover  and  glacial  authority,  who  was  like- 
wise a  member  of  the  expedition,  writes,  "  To  the  lover 
of  pure  wildness,  Alaska  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
countries  in  the  world." 


Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


All  such  praise  seems  exaggeration  to  those  who  do  not 
know  Alaska,  but  to  those  who  have  been  privileged  to 
see  its  beauty,  such  words  are  but  simple  truth.  "  The 
truth  about  Alaska  is  good  enough,"  writes  General  Rich- 
ardson of  the  government  service  in  one  of  his  reports. 
It  is  not  only  good  enough,  but  it  is  so  remarkably  good 
that  few  believe  it.  They  put  it  down  as  exaggeration. 
But  some  day,  as  Mr.  Gannett  says,  the  Alaskan  coast 
will  be  the  mecca  for  lovers  of  natural  beauty  the  world 
over,  and  Alaska  will  be  appreciated  and  enjoyed  at  its 
u^orth. 

The  spectacular  features  of  Alaskan  scenery  are  usually 
most  dwelt  upon, —  Mt.  McKinley,  towering  twenty  thou- 
sand, three  hundred  feet  in  the  air,  the  highest  peak  on  the 
North  American  continent ;  the  Malaspina  glacier,  cover- 
ing one  thousand,  five  hundred  square  miles,  one-tenth  of 
the  whole  area  of  Switzerland  and  greater  than  the  area 
of  Rhode  Island,  and  with  an  ice  wall  on  the  ocean  front 
estimated  variously  at  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  miles  in 
length;  the  Yukon  River,  rising  within  a  score  or  so  of 
miles  of  tidewater,  yet  flowing  more  than  two  thousand 
miles  to  reach  the  ocean;  weird,  dim  days  when  the  sun 
scarcely  peeps  above  the  horizon,  and  gloriously  bright, 
twenty-four-hour  long  days  when  it  does  not  set;  the 
aurora  flashing  its  brilliant  streamers  across  the  midnight 
sky,  "  the  lights  when  the  spirits  dance."  say  the  Indians, 
and  the  strange,  pallid  mock  suns  that  seem  to  be  trying  to 
make  up  in  number  what  they  lack  in  light. 

All  these  are  part  of  the  marvelous  and  novel  beauty 
that  Alaska  gives,  but  they  arc  not  the  whole  of  the  scenic 
offerings.  From  almost  the  time  one  starts  Alaskaward, 
there  is  a  succession  of  snow-capped  mountains,  a  suc- 
cession of  glaciers.  It  is  no  unusual  thing  to  count 
within  the  glance  of  the  eye,  as  the  steamer  glides  along 


Alaska  at  a  Glance 


the  coast  or  through  the  channels  of  the  Inside  Passage,  a 
dozen  of  these  great  ice  rivers  pouring  down  from  the 
sky.  There  are  waterfalls  innumerable,  lacing  mountain- 
sides with  slender  lines  of  silvery  loveliness  amidst  the 
deep  green  of  spruce,  or  leaping  in  great  foaming  torrents 
from  craggy  mountain  brows  to  glistening  gray  boulders, 
and  filling  the  air  with  the  thunder  of  their  voice  and  the 
radiant  glory  of  their  rainbows.  There  are  silent  fiords 
lying  placid  under  gray  mountain  walls;  deep,  dark  can- 
yons through  which  rivers  boil  over  rocks  and  rapids. 
There  are  great  stretches  of  pleasant  valleys  filled  with 
grasses  and  slender,  arrow-tipped  spruce.  And  every- 
where are  wild  flowers,  —  on  the  ruggedest  mountains, 
mosses  with  delicate,  tiny  blossoms,  growing  to  the  very 
feet  of  the  glaciers,  even  at  times  on  the  glaciers  them- 
selves, seeming  to  draw  substance  from  moisture  and  air 
alone;  in  the  woods  and  valleys  and  along  the  shores, 
single  blossoms  and  scattered  groups  and  veritable  sheets 
of  blue  lupines,  wild  pink  peas,  rosy  fireweed,  bluebells, 
gold  and  white  daisies,  heavenly  blue  larkspur,  and  wild 
roses  of  a  size  and  fragrance  unknown  elsewhere.  Seem- 
ingly every  blossom  that  nature  has  made  grows  here  in  a 
profusion  that  covers  the  landscape  with  color  and  fills 
the  air  with  fragrance. 

Had  Alaska  nothing  to  offer  but  its  scenery,  it  still 
would  have  a  worthy  treasure  to  give.  But  it  has  much 
else. 

To  many  Americans,  its  history  is  as  unfamiliar  as  the 
features  of  its  landscape.  In  fact  it  is  thought  by  many 
to  have  no  history  other  than  that  of  its  Indians  and  the 
annals  of  the  argonauts  that  flocked  thither  upon  the  dis- 
covery of  gold.  But  when  the  colonies  on  the  eastern 
coast  were  struggling  for  independence,  and  later  wres- 
tling with  the  first  problems  of  a  new  form  of  government. 


6  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Alaska  had  its  shipbuilding  plants,  its  foundries,  its  farms 
and  cattle.  In  the  early  days  of  the  last  century,  there 
were  balls  and  banquets  at  Sitka  that  rivalled  in  richness 
of  appointment  and  beauty  of  apparel  the  social  gayeties 
on  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  The  Russian  is  a  lover  of  color 
and  of  brilliant  display  and  the  ceremonious  festivities  at 
Sitka  were  marked  with  the  flashing  of  jewels,  the  rustle 
of  silks,  the  soft  richness  of  velvet  and  the  sparkle  of 
wine.  Russian  feet  danced  to  Russian  music  on  this 
northwest  coast  when  gay  belles  were  threading  the  mazes 
of  the  minuet  on  the  shores  of  the  distant  Atlantic.  Alas- 
ka's early  history  is  a  story  of  exploration,  colonization, 
and  industrial  activity  no  less  interesting  than  that  of 
other  parts  of  the  country  and  quite  as  distinctive.  On 
the  eastern  coast  were  Spanish,  English  and  Dutch  col- 
onies with  their  characteristic  life.  Here  on  the  west  was 
another  offshoot  of  the  Old  World  with  a  life  as  novel, 
and  which,  until  as  late  as  1867,  was  maintained  in  all  its 
picturesqueness. 

The  native  life  of  Alaska  also  has  its  interest.  The 
Indians  of  the  Territory  are  not  dependent  upon  Uncle 
Sam  as  are  those  of  the  States.  They  do  not  live  upon 
reservations.  The  government  provides  native  schools, 
and  helps  in  every  way  possible  to  the  natives'  best  devel- 
opment, but  the  Indians  are  self  supporting.  They  have 
quickly  adapted  themselves  to  the  changes  which  the 
opening  of  the  Territory  has  brought.  They  have  their 
cooperative  stores,  their  canneries  and  sawmills,  their 
power  launches,  their  neat,  pretty  homes.  Even  far  away 
north  toward  the  Arctic,  the  Eskimos  have  electric  lights, 
and  publish  a  magazine  of  their  own  devoted  to  the  inter- 
ests of  their  race. 

The  settlers  of  Alaska  are  a  people  to  arouse  admira- 
tion.    They  have   fought  against  great  odds  and  con- 


Alaska  at  a  Glance 


quered.  With  packs  on  their  backs,  containing  all  the 
supplies  they  possessed,  they  made  their  way  in  the  begin- 
ning over  rugged  mountain  ranges  and  torrential  streams. 
They  struggled  through  marsh  and  tundra,  sinking  to 
shoe  tops,  to  knees,  to  waist.  In  the  winter,  they  wrestled 
with  blizzards  and  long,  sunless  days.  They  had  to  de- 
pend entirely  upon  their  own  resources  for  subsistence 
and  upon  their  own  indomitable  will  for  success.  Disap- 
pointment after  disappointment  did  not  dishearten  them. 
If  one  valley  did  not  yield  the  treasure  they  were  seeking, 
they  went  to  another.  Even  after  little  settlements  began 
to  come,  they  still  had  much  with  which  to  contend. 
There  were  almost  no  transportation  facilities  in  the  usual 
meaning  of  the  word,  and  the  wilderness  had  to  be  daily 
conquered.  It  is  this  race  of  hardy,  unconquerable 
pioneers  and  their  descendants  that  people  Alaska  to-day. 
It  is  their  resourcefulness,  initiative,  and  indomitable  will 
that  is  making  the  Territory  forge  ahead  as  rapidly  as  it 
is. 

But  though  these  are  features  to  fire  the  imagination 
and  make  us  realize,  as  perhaps  we  have  not,  the  interest 
that  lies  for  us  in  this  great  territory  to  the  northwest, 
Alaska  has  a  side  that  will  make  to  the  practical  an  even 
stronger  appeal.  It  has  resources  that  amaze.  Of  its 
gold,  all  have  heard,  though  perhaps  many  do  not  realize 
the  tremendousness  of  its  output.  The  Tread  well  group 
of  mines  alone  have  produced  $63,000,000.  Over  against 
this  it  is  well  to  recall  that  only  $7,200,000  was  paid  for 
the  whole  of  the  Territory.  But  gold  is  only  one  of 
Alaska's  productions,  and  though  great  as  has  been  the 
output,  indications  begin  to  point  to  other  resources  that 
will  soon  outrank  it. 

But,  so  far,  it  occupies  first  place,  and  up  to  1917  the 
total  production  amounted  to  more  than  $293,000,000. 


8  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


Including  1918.  it  will  easily  go  over  $300,000,000. 
Copper  is  perhaps  the  next  richest  mineral  product. 
The  mines  of  Alaska  are  the  richest  in  the  world,  and  the 
Kennicott  Mine  ranks  fourth  in  the  world's  production 
and  first  in  the  low  cost  of  operating.  Since  the  purchase, 
Alaska's  output  of  copper  up  to  1917  is  more  than 
$91,000,000.  Including  1918,  this  output  will  reach 
$110,000,000. 

These  two  are  considered  the  leading  minerals.  Yet 
the  earth  is  rich  in  many  others.  Coal,  silver,  lead,  tin, 
iron,  antimony,  tungsten,  graphite,  cinnabar,  platinum, 
molybdenum,  marble,  gypsum,  used  for  plaster  of  Paris 
and  fertilizer,  barytes,  of  value  in  the  manufacture  of 
white  lead,  all  are  here,  many  in  seemingly  inexhaustible 
quantity.  There  are  ledges  of  coal,  in  many  places  in 
plain  view,  many  feet  thick  and  extending  for  miles.  On 
some  parts  of  the  coast  and  in  some  places  in  the  interior, 
coal  is  washed  up  in  plentiful  quantity.  Prospectors, 
miners,  and  residents  pick  up  what  they  need  as  they 
need  it.  It  is  said  that  Alaska  has  more  coal  than  Penn- 
sylvania. The  coal  story  of  the  Territory  has  not  yet 
even  its  alphabet. 

Alaska  marble  includes  not  only  the  ordinary  black 
and  white  variety  but  several  other  kinds  in  which  are  the 
most  delicate  and  lovely  tintings  of  lavender,  green,  pale 
gold  and  other  colorings,  that  lend  themselves  to  exquisite 
furnishing  effects.  In  quality  it  equals  the  most  famous 
of  Vermont's  products,  and  it  is  being  used  almost  exclu- 
sively in  the  construction  of  buildings  on  the  western 
coast. 

Chrome  ore,  used  in  the  making  of  steel,  has  recently 
been  discovered.  Antimony,  mined  first  in  19LS,  has 
already  produced  $253,000.  and  tungsten,  worked  first 
in  1916.  has  yielded  more  than  $83,000. 


Alaska  at  a  Glance  9 

The  better  known  minerals  such  as  silver,  lead,  tin, 
graphite  and  others  are  yielding  steadily.  There  is  said 
to  be  more  tin  in  Alaska  than  in  the  British  mines. 

Yet  in  all  these  the  ground  has,  as  it  is  said,  scarcely 
been  scratched.  Many  of  the  vast  mineral  deposits  of 
the  interior  are  not  worked  at  all  owing  to  the  present 
high  cost  of  transportation  which  makes  the  getting  in 
of  supplies  and  machinery  prohibitive.  When  this  is 
overcome  and  the  mineral  wealth  of  Alaska  begins  to 
pour  out  in  the  flood  of  which  these  small  beginnings  show 
it  is  capable,  it  will  astound  the  world. 

Minerals  seem  naturally  the  wealth  first  thought  of  in 
connection  with  Alaska,  perhaps  because  of  the  impres- 
sion produced  by  its  gold  discoveries.  But  it  has  other 
resources  equally  valuable. 

Running  close  to  the  value  of  its  mineral  output  is  the 
value  of  its  fisheries.  And  if  its  mineral  production  is 
still  in  its  infancy,  its  fish  development  is  still  more  so.  It 
has  been  estimated  by  a  member  of  the  United  States  Fish 
Commission  that  there  are  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
varieties  of  edible  fish  in  Alaskan  waters  of  which  at 
present  only  twenty  are  being  used.  Even  so,  the  value 
of  the  fish  productions  since  the  purchase  until  1917  is 
$300,000,000.  The  estimate  for  1918  alone  is  $55,- 
000,000. 

Next  in  value,  perhaps,  come  the  furs.  Included  in 
these  are  sealskin,  fox  of  many  kinds,  mink,  ermine,  lynx, 
marten,  bear,  wolf,  land  otter,  beaver,  muskrat,  and  other 
minor  skins.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  beaver  skins 
alone,  if  protected  for  twenty  years,  would  pay  the  cost 
of  Alaska.  Before  the  discovery  of  gold  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  fisheries,  furs  were  Alaska's  greatest  resource. 
The  Indians  were  the  principal  trappers,  and  the  Hudson 
Bay  Company  and  the  Russian  trading  companies  grew 


10  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


wealthy  off  the  lustrous  skins  brought  by  these  indefa- 
tigable native  hunters.  But  the  Indians  have  gone  about 
other  business,  and  too,  other  resources  have  come  to  the 
front,  and  so  though  Alaska's  furs  are  almost  as  abundant 
and  every  whit  as  beautiful  as  of  old,  they  do  not  stand 
out  so  prominently  as  they  did  in  days  past  as  a  source  of 
wealth.  But  they  are  nevertheless  one  of  the  Territory's 
great  offerings,  and  if  all  of  Alaska's  furs  were  suddenly 
swept  off  the  market  the  world  would  decidedly  feel  the 
loss. 

Of  Alaska's  timber  little  is  heard.  But  one  can  steam 
for  thousands  of  miles  along  its  coast  line,  every  foot  of 
which  is  crowded  densely  with  trees.  One  can  ride  for 
other  thousands  of  miles  up  and  down  its  navigable  rivers 
and  see  the  same  story  of  densely  wooded  shores.  It  is 
estimated  that  there  is  an  excess  of  eighty  billion  feet  of 
merchantable  timber  in  Alaska.  This  timber  except  in 
the  southeastern  section  is  not  large.  But  it  is  quite  suit- 
able for  paper  pulp.  And  when  it  is  remembered  that  we 
are  dependent  upon  Canada  for  much  of  our  paper  pulp 
and,  before  the  war,  upon  countries  over  seas,  it  is  easily 
seen  what  the  development  of  this  industry  in  our  own 
domain  would  mean  to  us.  It  would  appreciably  reduce 
the  cost  of  every  newspaper  and  magazine,  of  every  bag 
and  piece  of  wrapping  paper  we  use. 

The  reindeer  industry  has  but  begun.  Nature  has 
freely  provided  food  for  them  in  almost  unlimited  quan- 
tity, and  in  return  they  give  man  a  mode  of  travel  adapted 
to  the  country,  meat,  skin  useful  in  various  ways,  and 
many  other  by-products.  In  fact,  it  is  claimed  that  every 
part  of  the  reindeer  is  of  use,  and  that  in  time  large  quan- 
tities of  reindeer  meat  will  be  shipped  to  the  States.  It  is 
looked  upon  as  one  of  Alaska's  most  valuable  coming  in- 
dustries. 


Alaska  at  a  Glance  11 


Although  agriculture  in  Alaska  will  never  undertake  to 
compete  with  agriculture  in  the  States,  there  are  suffi- 
ciently good  agricultural  lands  to  raise  many  things  for 
home  consumption.  The  farming  area  in  Alaska  has 
been  computed  to  equal  that  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland, 
Delaware,  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and 
New  Hampshire.  Home  products  will  greatly  reduce  the 
cost  of  living  as  well  as  provide  an  opening  for  those  who 
both  wish  to  farm  and  live  in  Alaska. 

Alaska's  commerce  is  also  an  asset  to  be  considered.  In 
one  year  recently  it  amounted  to  $110,000,000.  In  that 
year  it  exported  twice  its  purchase  price  in  gold,  six  times 
the  price  in  copper  and  three  times  in  fish.  No  country 
of  the  world  has  such  a  showing  per  capita,  especially 
when  it  is  considered  that  this  commerce  is  limited  to  a 
region  reached  by  water  transportation  alone. 

These  are  its  known  resources,  its  already  started  in- 
dustries. But  it  offers  many  opportunities  for  the  cre- 
ation of  new  enterprises,  and  new  sources  of  wealth  are 
frequently  coming  to  light.  Just  recently  there  have  been 
discovered  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  large  bone  deposits 
which  according  to  the  Secretary  of  Commerce,  repre- 
sent the  accumulation  of  a  century  or  more  and  are  prob- 
ably the  largest  known  bone  deposits  in  the  world.  Their 
fertilizing  properties  as  shown  by  analysis  are  high,  and 
the  country  is  greatly  in  need  of  such  material.  The  uti- 
lization of  them  will  mean  not  only  a  fresh  and  almost 
inexhaustible  source  of  supply  of  this  necessary  article 
but  a  new  industry  for  Alaska,  and  opportunities  for  work 
that  will  ramify  in  many  directions. 

These  facts  show  that  Alaska  is  what  one  writer  has 
called  it,  "  an  amazing  young  Territory."  But  astounding 
as  they  may  seem  to  those  unfamiliar  with  them,  the  story 
of  Alaska's  extraordinary  features  is  not  yet  all  told. 


12  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


Its  size  is  a  matter  of  surprise  to  many.  In  area  it  is 
equal  to  about  one-fifth  of  the  United  States.  To  fully 
grasp  just  how  great  is  this  extent  of  territory,  a  compar- 
ison with  familiar  places  is  helpful.  Superimposed  upon 
the  map  of  the  United  States,  Alaska  covers  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  Minnesota,  Iowa,  and  the  larger  parts  of  Mis- 
souri, Kansas  and  Nebraska.  When  the  size  of  these 
states  is  recalled,  it  will  be  seen  what  a  tremendous  realm 
Alaska  is.    It  is  really  an  empire,  as  it  has  been  called. 

In  comparison  with  the  eastern  part  of  our  country  it 
equals  in  size  the  thirteen  original  colonies  with  Maine, 
Vermont,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Tennessee,  Kentucky  and  Mich- 
igan added.  New  England  is  lost  in  it.  It  is  greater 
than  the  area  of  Norway.  Sweden  and  Finland  combined. 
It  is  three  times  the  size  of  France. 

Its  range  of  latitude  is  as  great  as  from  New  Orleans  to 
Duluth,  and  its  climate  is  almost  as  varied.  It  is  not 
the  uniformly  cold  country,  even  in  winter,  that  has  been 
believed.  A  comparison  with  the  weather  reports  of 
various  cities  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  with  those 
of  representative  Alaskan  towns  on  the  sixth  of  January 
recently  showed  that  Sitka  had  the  same  temperature  as 
Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco.  Thirty-three  other 
towns  were  lower.  Twenty  places  in  the  United  States 
had  a  lower  record  than  Dutch  Harbor  on  the  Aleutian 
Islands.  Six  places  were  lower  than  Eagle  on  the  Yukon 
River.  Twelve  places  were  lower  than  Nome.  Two 
places  were  lower  than  Tanana  in  the  interior,  and  eight- 
een places  lower  than  Valdez  on  the  coast.  Denver, 
Huron  and  Winnipeg  were  colder  than  any  place  in 
Alaska  where  weather  records  could  be  secured. 

The  town  of  Seward,  the  ocean  terminus  of  the  gov- 
ernment railroad,  is  fifteen  hundred  miles  nearer  the 
Philippines  than  is  San  Francisco.     The  island  of  Una- 


Alaska  at  a  Glance  13 


laska  is  as  far  west  of  San  Francisco  as  this  city  of  the 
Golden  Gate  is  west  of  Washington,  D.  C.  The  shortest 
trans-Pacific  route  from  Seattle  to  Yokohama  runs  north 
of  the  Aleutian  Islands. 

The  shore  line  of  Alaska  is  twenty-six  thousand  miles, 
a  length  greater  than  the  circumference  of  the  earth.  This 
has  a  value  perhaps  not  generally  considered.     It  points 
of  course  to  prolific  fishing  grounds  both  commercially 
and  for  the  sportsman,  but  it  means  also  bays,  coves,  in- 
lets, and  winding  waterways  innumerable  that  offer  a 
pleasure  ground  for  summer  cruising  unmatched  in  the 
world.     The  southeastern  part  of  this  great  labyrinth  of 
water  highways  is  in  the  main  protected  from  the  ocean, 
and  is  as  safe  for  small  launches  as  any  inland  river  or 
lake.     The  scenery  is  enchanting,  game  and  fish  abundant, 
wood  plentiful.     The  most  delightful  summer  hoHdays 
can  be  spent  winding  in  and  out  of  these  channels  and 
fiords.     Not  only  can  quietude  and  beauty  be  enjoyed  but 
many  places  can  be  visited  otherwise  inaccessible.     The 
larger  boats  cannot  or  do  not  go  into  these  smaller  bays 
and  fiords.    Glacier  Bay,  where  is  Muir  Glacier,  twenty  of 
whose  tributaries  are  each  greater  than  the  Mer  de  Glace ; 
Rudyerd  Bay,  named  for  the  English  engineer  Rudyerd 
who  rebuilt  the  Eddystone  lighthouse;  the  great  Mala- 
spina  Glacier;  deserted  Indian  villages  with  their  gro- 
tesque totems,  and  many  other  such  places  off  the  beaten 
track  can  be  sought  out  and  enjoyed.    That  such  trips  are 
quite  practicable  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  John  Muir 
travelled  eight  hundred  miles  from  Wrangell  along  the 
coast  in  a  canoe,  going  as  far  north  as  the  upper  end  of 
Lynn  Canal. 

Such  is  Alaska  at  a  glance,  a  region  of  beauty  that 
enthralls  the  senses  and  of  resources  that  amaze  the  mind. 
It  is  a  pioneer  land  practically  at  our  doors  in  the  twen- 


14  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

tieth  century,  a  land  in  many  sections  as  undeveloped  as 
the  great  West  seventy  years  ago,  but  whose  opportuni- 
ties can  be  reached  easily  and  in  comfort,  and  whose 
primeval  solitudes,  snow-crowned  peaks,  and  majestic  gla- 
ciers can  be  viewed  from  the  deck  chair  or  observation 
car. 


CHAPTER  II 

FROM     SEATTLE    NORTHWARD 

A  WORD  AS  TO  STEAMER  ROUTES.  ThE  BEAUTY  THAT  GREETS  ONE  AT 
THE  VERY  START.  VICTORIA  AND  ITS  INTERESTS.  AlERT  BaY  AND 
A  POTLATCH.      TOTEM  POLES.      ThEIR  HISTORY  AND  MEANING. 

It  would  seem  as  if  nature  had  especially  prepared  the 
highway  leading  to  Alaska  so  that  every  part  o£  a  trip 
thither  might  be  delightful.  The  Inside  Passage,  as  the 
stretch  of  waterways  leading  to  Alaska  is  called,  has  few 
if  any  counterparts  in  the  world.  There  are  but  two 
places,  it  is  said,  that  even  lend  themselves  to  comparison, 
one  a  similar  passage  on  the  southwestern  coast  of  South 
America,  and  the  other  the  fiords  of  Norway.  The  coast 
of  South  America  is  at  present  little  known,  and  though 
Norway  is  famed  for  its  beauty,  those  who  have  travelled 
there,  and  even  many  Norwegians  themselves,  admit  that 
the  coast  of  Alaska  surpasses  it  for  sublimity.  But  com- 
parisons are  not  necessary.  Each  part  of  the  world  has 
its  individual  appeal,  and  the  Inside  Passage  has  a  love- 
liness, a  charm,  and  a  grandeur  sufficient  to  elate  any  lover 
of  natural  beauty. 

There  are  various  lines  of  steamers  running  from 
Seattle  to  Alaska.  Some  go  only  as  far  as  Skagway  at 
the  head  of  Lynn  Canal.  Others  go  westward  to  Seward 
and  Anchorage,  the  coast  terminals  of  the  government 
railroad.  Still  others  go  to  Nome,  farther  north  on  Be- 
ring Sea.  There  are  several  American  lines,  one  Cana- 
dian line,  and  among  those  running  only  to  Skagway  some 

15 


16  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


smaller  boats  whose  fares  are  less  than  the  larger  steam- 
ers. So  that  one  has  wide  choice.  A  good  plan  is  to 
divide  the  trip  between  the  American  and  Canadian  boats, 
going  by  one  and  returning  by  the  other.  In  this  way 
one  will  be  enabled  to  see  all  the  ports  along  the  coast,  for 
the  American  boats  do  not  stop  at  some  of  the  Canadian 
towns  nor  the  Canadian  boats  at  a  few  of  the  American 
cities.  But  by  using  both  lines  all  the  towns  can  be  seen, 
and  they  are  so  quaint  and  interesting  none  should  be 
missed. 

The  Canadian  Pacific  line  is  delightful  to  travel  upon. 
The  boats  are  built  with  an  observation  room  forward, 
with  large  windows  and  big  easy  chairs  in  front  of  each 
window.  The  arrangement  is  much  that  of  a  parlor  car 
except  that  in  place  of  the  rather  cramped  quarters  of  a 
car  is  a  good-sized  room  with  cosy  corners  and  an  electric 
grate  fire  giving  a  cheerful  glow  if  the  day  is  chill. 

The  table  service  is  that  of  a  well-appointed  home.  Not 
only  are  the  menu  and  cooking  all  that  can  be  desired,  but 
the  china,  silver  and  little  things  of  the  table  are  of  the 
sort  to  satisfy  the  most  fastidious. 

Charts  of  the  route  are  posted  where  the  passengers 
can  easily  study  them,  also  typed  information  about  the 
places  at  which  the  steamer  stops.  Every  detail  that  will 
add  to  the  pleasure  of  the  trip  has  been  thought  of.  There 
is  as  well  an  atmosphere  of  courtesy  and  kindliness  upon 
the  part  of  all  in  charge  that  increases  the  enjoyment  of 
the  voyage.  In  fact,  the  surroundings  and  the  attentive 
thought  fulness  make  one  feel  as  if  he  were  a  guest  in  the 
home  of  a  friend  and  robs  the  journey  of  much  of  the 
ordinary  atmosphere  of  travelling. 

One  of  the  American  lines  also  has  its  boats  built  on 
this  plan  of  the  observation  room.  It  is  an  excellent  idea 
in  l)()at  construction  for  such  a  trip  as  this.    There  is  no 


From  Seattle  Northward  17 


part  of  the  journey  where  the  scenery  does  not  lure,  and 
with  this  arrangement  one  can  gaze  at  it  entirely  protected 
from  sun  and  wind  and  quite  at  ease  in  a  big,  comfortable 
chair. 

The  waterfront  at  Seattle  presents  a  vivid  picture  of 
bustle  and  beauty  as  the  steamer  waits  for  lines  to  be 
cast  off.  The  buildings  of  the  city  dominated  by  the  high 
Smith  tower  rise  tier  upon  tier,  impressive  in  their  orderly, 
business-like  aspect.  Up  and  down  the  long  line  of  piers, 
sombre  dock  buildings  range  side  by  side,  attractive  in 
their  very  air  of  homely  usefulness.  Across  the  harbor, 
green  heights  rise  sharply,  prettily  bright  with  flowers 
and  homes.  A  slight  haze  softens  the  outline  of  distant 
hills,  and  the  red  smokestack  of  a  passing  boat  adds  a 
vivid  note  of  color. 

The  steamer  glides  smoothly  from  its  moorings,  so 
smoothly  that  it  is  the  receding  of  the  dock  that  gives  the 
first  intimation  that  the  voyage  has  begun.  Soon  sky- 
scrapers and  piers  and  shipyards  and  the  noises  of  the 
busy  world  of  work  are  left  behind.  The  shore  sweeps 
out  here  and  there  into  sharp  points  thickly  wooded.  To 
the  west,  the  Olympic  Mountains  begin  to  appear,  softly, 
hazily  blue  and  crowned  with  snow.  Here  and  there 
along  the  densely  forested  shores  a  column  of  smoke  rises 
among  the  trees  telling  of  industries  busily  providing  for 
the  needs  of  other  parts  of  the  globe. 

Through  a  world  of  blue  water,  green  shores,  and 
mistily  blue  mountains,  the  steamer  glides  for  hours. 
Under  the  brilliant  sun  the  water  sparkles  as  if  encrusted 
with  silver  and  sprinkled  with  diamonds.  Over  the  tops 
of  the  deep  green  spruce  and  fir  of  the  shore  rise  on  both 
sides  of  the  channel  tier  upon  tier  of  blue  mountains,  the 
distant  ones  gleaming  purely  white  on  their  summits.  The 
blue  of  these  mountains  is  a  peculiarly  soft,  tender  color, 


18  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

melting  almost  imperceptibly  into  the  blue  of  the  sky.  In- 
deed, were  it  not  for  the  mountain  outlines,  and  here  and 
there  shadows,  one  could  scarcely  distinguish  the  moun- 
tains at  times  from  the  cloud  scenery.  But  it  is  this  very 
delicacy,  like  a  faint  pencilling,  that  makes  them  so  lovely. 
And,  shining  more  brilliantly  than  the  clouds,  are  their 
snowy  caps  which  call  attention,  like  a  clear  voice,  to  their 
faint,  subtle  loveliness. 

The  hours  slip  by  unnoticed  in  these  enchanted  waters 
and  almost  before  one  has  realized  how  they  have  sped, 
the  lower  end  of  Vancouver  Island  appears  and  the 
steamer  swings  in  for  Victoria. 

The  approach  to  Victoria  is  particularly  beautiful.  A 
narrow  winding  channel  leads  between  densely  wooded 
shores,  past  a  breakwater  and  islands  with  tiny  light- 
houses, and  sweeps  in  almost  a  semicircle  up  to  the  dock. 
Looking  backward,  the  eye  is  carried  from  the  blue 
waters,  the  tiny  lighthouses,  the  green  shore,  to  an  amphi- 
theatre of  blue  and  white  mountains  encircling  the  harbor, 
some  rising  above  the  banks  of  clouds  with  all  the  serene 
beauty  of  Fujiyama. 

But  the  beauty  of  the  scene  is  broken  by  a  raucous 
voice  rolling  out  over  the  water  through  a  megaphone 
advising  the  tourists  that  the  only  way  to  see  the  town  in 
the  time  at  their  disposal  is  in  the  cars  of  the  owner  of 
said  voice.  He  stands,  a  lonely  figure  on  a  pier  that 
stretches  far  out  into  the  harbor,  and  his  voice  rolls  on 
until  it  is  drowned  in  the  scornful  toot  of  the  whistle  as 
the  boat  draws  into  the  dock.  But  here  another  stentor 
takes  up  the  tale,  and  as  he  begins  on  a  foundation  of 
interest  already  laid,  and  as  he  adds  a  clever  jingle  to  his 
seductive  appeal,  he  gets  the  most  of  the  customers. 

Victoria  is  a  clean,  bright,  substantial  town  with  wide 
streets   and   pretty  homes   set   amidst  beautiful   flower 


,f>iif* 


Prom  Seattle  Northward  19 


gardens.  Indeed  it  is  the  greenness  and  floweriness  of  the 
city  that  makes  its  strongest  appeal  to  many,  though  it 
has,  too,  the  substantial  Old  World  air  that  somehow  an 
English  town  always  seems  to  acquire  no  matter  where 
planted. 

Victoria  is  the  capital  of  British  Columbia.  The  Par- 
liament buildings,  the  government  offices  and  an  interest- 
ing museum  are  the  chief  places  of  note.  Beacon  Hill 
Park  is  a  delightful  bit  of  woods,  and  the  grassy  downs 
of  Oak  Bay  provide  links  for  golfers. 

The  town  is  the  outgrowth  of  old  Fort  Victoria,  estab- 
lished by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  in  1842.  Vancouver 
Island,  upon  whose  southern  point  it  lies,  was  discovered 
by  Juan  de  Fuca  in  1592.  Vancouver  surveyed  its  coasts 
in  1793,  and  it  was  named  in  his  honor.  The  island  is 
sparsely  inhabited,  though  it  is  rich  in  minerals  and 
timber,  and  has  some  good  agricultural  land;  but  the 
mining  of  coal  is  at  present  the  chief  industry. 

Steaming  out  again  through  Victoria's  pretty  harbor, 
the  boat  now  takes  almost  a  straight  course  north  across 
the  Gulf  of  Georgia  for  the  city  of  Vancouver.  The 
water  highway  begins  to  expand,  the  shores  fade  into  a 
blue  line  in  the  distance,  but  the  merging  of  blue  waters, 
blue  shore  lines,  and  the  low  blue  hills  is  very  lovely.  Low 
points  of  bare  rock  run  out  here  and  there  from  the  shore. 
Islands  with  tiny  lighthouses  on  them  dot  the  waters. 
Sail-boats  lend  their  graceful  beauty.  The  Olympic 
Mountains  on  the  west  and  the  Cascade  Mountains  on  the 
east  enclose  the  scene  of  silvery  water  and  wooded  shore 
with  a  background  of  snowy  peaks.  To  the  southeast, 
Mt.  Baker,  shadowy  and  serene,  towers  over  all,  a  faint 
white  cone  assuring  one  it  is  a  mountain  and  not  a  cloud 
only  by  its  unchanging  form. 

As  Vancouver  is  approached,  the  scenery  grows  wilder. 


20  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Great,  towering  mountains  crowd  down  to  the  water's 
edge,  and  the  snow-capped  ones  seem  but  a  hand's  throw 
away.  Again  the  steamer  winds  through  a  narrow,  pic- 
turesque channel  up  to  its  dock. 

It  is  not  so  many  years  since  Vancouver  was  a  post  of 
that  "  Honourable  Company  of  Merchant  Adventurers 
Trading  into  Hudson  Bay,"  the  strictly  correct  name  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company  and  ever  so  much  more  ro- 
mantic and  surely  more  enjoyable  to  work  under  than  its 
present  shortened  form.  The  town  was  then  a  little  strag- 
gling frontier  settlement  such  as  is  even  yet  seen  in  some 
parts  of  Alaska.  But  is  to-day  one  of  the  important 
business  ports  of  the  Pacific  coast  with  wide  busy  streets, 
handsome  buildings,  and  all  that  goes  to  make  a 
modern  city.  Stanley  Park  stands  perhaps  as  its  best 
representative  of  progressiveness,  for  such  things  are 
usually  the  last  expression  of  a  city's  civic  spirit.  This 
park  is  a  fine  pleasure  ground  for  the  people  of  almost  a 
thousand  acres.  The  giant  trees  of  its  virgin  forest  and 
the  great  Siwash  Rock  carved  by  nature  into  the  resem- 
blance of  an  Indian  head  are  the  chief  objects  of  interest. 
A  motor  road  winds  along  the  shore,  giving  enchanting 
views  of  harbor  and  distant  mountains,  and  leads  to 
English  Bay,  a  place  of  beach  diversions,  promenades, 
bathing,  and  all  the  gay  life  of  an  English  seaside  water- 
ing place. 

Beyond  Vancouver  the  wider  waters  of  the  Gulf  of 
Georgia  are  soon  left  behind  and  the  steamer  enters  one 
of  the  many  narrow  channels  that  thread  the  Inside 
Passage  like  silver  ribbons.  The  vista  ahead  is  much 
like  that  of  a  winding  river,  except  that  no  river  ever  had 
such  an  enchanting  background  nor  such  beautiful  shores. 
Point  after  point  of  land  stretches  out  into  the  water, 
crowdc(l  densely  with  slender,  spear-tipped  spruce.   Island 


From  Seattle  Northward  21 


after  island  dots  the  water,  forested  with  the  same  thick 
green.  Wherever  the  eye  wanders  is  an  entrancing  picture 
of  silvery  water,  green  shores,  tree-crowned  islands,  and  in 
the  far  view  in  every  direction,  majestic  snow  mountains. 
At  times  the  channel  onward  seems  entirely  blocked  as  if 
the  boat  were  sailing  into  some  little  cove  or  land-locked 
harbor,  but  the  vessel  swings  around  a  point  and  again  an 
entrancing  waterway  lures  between  high  green  mountains 
and  wooded  islands,  and  again  the  serene,  far-off  snow 
mountains  fill  the  background  with  their  glittering  peaks. 
Here  and  there  a  tiny  lighthouse  perched  on  a  jutting 
rock  gives  a  sense  of  friendly  watchful  guardianship. 

Thus,  threading  shining  waterway  after  waterway, 
gliding  quietly  by  cape  after  cape,  slender  promontory  af- 
ter promontory,  along  mile  after  mile  of  densely  wooded 
shores,  past  peak  after  peak  that  soars  in  unbroken  suc- 
cession thousands  of  feet  in  the  air,  sweeping  into  larger 
bays  and  lakelike  expanses  where  shore  line  and  mountain 
meet  in  a  tender,  ethereal  blue,  then  again  into  narrow 
channels  with  luring,  ever-changing,  on-leading  vistas, 
the  hours  slip  by  without  hint  of  weariness. 

An  interesting  stop  after  Vancouver  is  Alert  Bay,  a 
collection  of  frame  buildings  that  one  hesitates  to  call 
houses,  and  smells,  noticeably  smells.  The  buildings 
stretch  along  the  shore  of  a  curving  blue  bay  beyond  which 
rises  a  magnificent  mountain  range;  and  the  enchanting 
view  somewhat  alleviates  the  odors. 

Several  piers  run  picturesquely  out  into  the  water, 
throwing  black  shadows  that  crimple  and  bend  with  the 
movement  of  the  waves.  The  beach  is  well  filled  with 
Indian  canoes,  long,  graceful,  sharply  pointed.  A  few 
"  gas  "  boats  ride  at  anchor,  staunch  and  businesslike,  far 
more  profitable  no  doubt  for  fishing  than  the  canoe  but 
lacking  its  grace,  beauty  and  touch  with  the  primeval. 


22  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Back  of  the  buildings  that  line  the  one  side  of  the 
street,  the  land  rises  steeply,  brightly  green  with  grass 
and  birch  and  alder  and  a  few  fruit  trees  with  here  and 
there  the  dark  sombre  foliage  of  the  spruce  and  fir.  Some 
well-kept  gardens,  a  few  lilac  bushes,  yellow  broom  in 
blossom,  sunshiny  dandelions,  and  other  wild  flowers 
make  the  one  little  street  cheerful.  Stately  slow-pacing 
Indian  women  and  Indian  men  in  red  blankets  move 
slowly  about  and  eye  the  visitor  silently,  curiously. 

At  the  lower  end  of  the  village  is  the  hospital  and  In- 
dian graveyard,  "  a  significant  proximity,"  a  tourist  idly 
remarks.  The  graveyard  is  reached  by  a  charming,  tree- 
embowered  walk  along  the  blue  waters  of  the  harbor  with 
delightful  vistas  caught  now  and  then  of  the  far  away 
snowy  mountains. 

The  little  graveyard  is  among  the  trees  on  the  sloping 
hillside  with  grasses  growing  almost  as  high  as  the  picket 
fences  that  enclose  the  graves.  In  many  of  these  en- 
closures is  a  totem  pole,  "  probably  the  family  tombstone," 
one  tourist  hazards. 

On  the  way  back  to  the  dock,  almost  in  the  shadow  of  a 
totem  pole,  an  Indian  wrestled  with  a  huge  can  of  ice 
cream  while  overhead  the  wires  of  the  government  tele- 
phone service  hummed  in  the  trees.  The  edges  of  two 
civilizations  are  meeting  in  this  little  town  in  the  wilder- 
ness and  it  will  not  be  very  long  before  the  one  will  dis- 
appear before  the  other.  Much  that  is  picturesque  and 
some  that  is  artistic  will  go,  but  also  will  go  other  things 
not  so  desirable,  among  them,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  the  smells. 

A  ceremony  that  was  luckily  stumbled  on  at  Alert  Bay 
was  a  potlatch.  A  stout  Indian  gentleman  in  white  men's 
clothes  and  a  big  felt  hat  stood  in  a  small  building  en- 
closed on  three  sides  addressing  some  Indians  gathered 
about  him  and  a  little  group  of  others  in  red  blankets 


From  Seattle  Northward  23 


squatted  near  by  on  the  grass.  Their  faces  were  abso- 
lutely impassive.  Near  him  was  a  pile  of  blankets,  and 
from  time  to  time  one  of  these  was  taken  and  bestowed  on 
some  one  in  the  listening  group. 

It  was  much  like  a  Christmas  or  birthday  gathering  at 
home  except  that  the  Indian  is  much  more  adept  than  his 
white  brother  in  concealing  that  happy,  expectant  look 
worn  when  gifts  are  about  to  be  bestowed,  or  the  disap- 
pointment that  creeps  out  despite  staunch  efforts  if  the 
gift  is  not  what  was  ardently  hoped  for.  When  the 
blankets  were  all  gone  the  crowd  dispersed,  still  some- 
what stolid,  and  the  stout  benevolent  Indian  went  home 
much  uplifted  in  spirit  it  is  to  be  hoped,  though  much 
poorer  in  earthly  possessions. 

This  sort  of  potlatch  is  far  from  being  like  the  original 
ceremony  in  picturesqueness.  The  potlatch  was  at  one 
time  a  great  event  in  Indian  life.  It  was  a  perfectly 
systematized  distribution  of  gifts  involving  much  more 
thoughtful  consideration  and  balancing  of  obligations 
than  the  giving  of  a  social  entertainment  by  a  member  of 
the  Four  Hundred.  The  more  frequently  and  liberally 
an  Indian  distributed  his  property  the  better  was  his 
standing  with  the  others,  the  greater  his  chance  of  reach- 
ing the  dignity  of  chief  of  the  village,  and  the  more  was 
due  him  when  some  one  else  gave,  results  not  unknown  in 
communities  other  than  Indian. 

An  ordinary  member  of  a  tribe  confined  his  potlatch  to 
those  of  his  own  village,  but  a  chief  usually  sent  out  invi- 
tations to  certain  individuals  of  other  villages.  Before 
doing  this,  however,  he  called  together  his  friends  and 
relatives  and  with  their  help  made  out  a  list  of  persons 
to  whom  he  intended  to  give  and  the  articles  for  each.  It 
was  often  the  custom,  however,  before  calling  together 
these  friends  to  quietly  distribute  his  property  among  the 


24  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


principal  people  of  the  village  who,  by  etiquette,  were  re- 
quired just  before  the  time  set  for  the  potlatch  to  return 
the  gift  with  interest.  So  that  it  may  be  supposed  a  pot- 
latch  was  not  always  a  season  of  rejoicing  to  those  most 
intimately  concerned. 

When  the  day  of  the  great  event  arrived,  hosts  and 
guests  arrayed  themselves  in  ceremonial  attire.  This 
ceremonial  dress  for  a  potlatch  was  in  many  tribes  quite 
elaborate.  If  the  occasion  was  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
a  house,  cutting  out  and  erecting  a  new  carved  column,  or 
undertaking  some  new  industrial  enterprise,  and  pot- 
latches  were  given  for  all  such  reasons,  the  feasting  and 
dancing  were  interspersed  with  work,  and  the  gifts  were 
presented  only  to  the  workers.  But  if  it  was  a  potlatch 
unconnected  with  any  such  enterprise  every  one  received 
gifts.  In  both  cases  the  distribution  was  the  final  act.  The 
guests  assembled,  the  goods  were  displayed  on  the  floor, 
on  poles,  wherever  they  could  be  shown  to  advantage. 
The  host  sat  or  stood  arrayed  in  his  ceremonial  attire  and 
with  a  ceremonial  baton.  A  herald  blew  a  call  and  an- 
nounced the  opening  of  the  ceremony  in  a  speech  extolling 
the  liberality  and  the  virtues  of  the  host,  and  then  called 
a  name.  An  attendant  took  the  present  and  placed  it  in 
front  of  the  one  to  whom  it  was  given.  On  the  announce- 
ment of  each  name  the  host  solemnly  nodded  his  head  and 
thumped  on  the  floor  with  his  baton.  It  was  all  very 
solemn,  very  formal,  very  rich  in  gay  headdresses,  blank- 
ets, beads,  paint  and  moccasins.  When  all  had  been  dis- 
tributed, songs  were  sung,  dances  performed,  and  all  was 
over. 

With  the  advance  of  education  among  the  natives,  the 
potlatch  is  dying  out.  Those  in  charge  of  Indian  schools 
make  no  direct  attack  upon  Indian  customs,  but  they  en- 
deavor indirectly  to  lead  the  natives  to  see  for  themselves 


From  Seattle  Northward  25 

the  unwisdom  of  some  of  their  practices.  The  Indians 
make  themselves  poor  by  some  of  these  potlatches,  as  they 
frequently  give  away  everything  of  value  they  possess, 
and  must  start  again  at  the  beginning  to  acquire  the 
necessities  of  life.  The  teachers  lead  them  by  deft  ques- 
tions and  discussions  to  think  practically  upon  this  and  to 
see  if  it  pays. 

Undoubtedly,  to  the  Indian,  the  potlatch  brings  some 
reward  of  the  spirit  not  sensed  entirely  from  the  practical 
side  of  life,  for  the  Indian  has  a  viewpoint  not  always 
grasped  by  others.  John  Muir  tells  that  upon  one  occa- 
sion, when  returning  from  a  glacial  expedition  wet  and 
cold,  he  was  met  by  an  old  chief  as  wet  and  cold  as  him- 
self who  said,  "  As  soon  as  I  saw  you  coming  back,  I  was 
ashamed  to  think  I  had  been  sitting  warm  and  dry  at  my 
fire  while  you  were  out  in  the  storm;  therefore  I  made 
haste  to  strip  off  my  clothing  and  put  on  these  wet  rags 
to  share  your  misery  and  to  show  how  much  I  love  you." 

Most  of  us  would  have  thought  we  could  have  shown 
our  love  better  and  also  a  decidedly  larger  amount  of  com- 
mon sense  by  having  warm,  dry  clothing  for  the  traveller. 
But,  no  doubt,  the  Indian  got  something  of  value  from 
his  act.  The  abolishing  of  Indian  customs  requires  a 
reverent  and  careful  hand. 

More  interesting,  however,  than  the  potlatch  at  Alert 
Bay  are  the  totem  poles,  for  here  are  the  first  to  be  en- 
countered on  the  trip. 

"  Beware  the  Jabberwock,  my  son. 

The  jaws  that  bite,  the  claws  that  catch ; 
Beware  the  Jubjub  bird,  and  shun 
The  frumious  Bandersnatch." 

one  is  incHned  to  mutter  as  he  walks  up  and  down  the 
one  street  of  the  village  and  studies  the  totem  poles  in 


26  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

front  of  the  houses.  "  Curiouser  and  curiouser,"  he  men- 
tally continues  to  quote  as  he  gazes  upon  these  weird,  un- 
couth figures  upreared  before  almost  every  Indian  home. 
For  these  strange  columns  that  are  encountered  through- 
out the  southeastern  part  of  Alaska  do,  if  one  knows 
little  totem  pole  lore,  arouse  all  one's  curiosity  and  put 
his  wits  on  their  mettle  to  explain. 

Each  tourist,  unlearned  in  the  legend  of  the  totem,  has 
his  explanation.  "  A  family  crest,"  says  one.  "  The 
family  tombstone,"  says  another.  "  The  family  genea- 
logical tree,"  says  a  third.  "  The  first  efforts  of  the  fam- 
ily genius,"  conjectures  a  fourth,  recalling  perhaps  per- 
sonal experiences.  And  a  thin,  querulous  man  who  con- 
scientiously took  notes  throughout  the  trip  inscribed  in 
his  diary,  "  Tad  poles.  Strange,  wooden  columns  dec- 
orated with  attempted  portrayals  of  men  and  birds.  In- 
dians poor  artists.  Could  make  better  looking  faces  my- 
self. Most  of  the  folks  call  them  totem  poles.  Never 
heard  the  word.    Mean  tad  poles." 

Little  fault  could  have  been  found  with  one  pole,  a 
neutrally  painted  column  surmounted  with  a  graceful  bird 
with  outstretched  wings.  But  few  of  the  poles  displayed 
this  simplicity  or  charm.  One  had  at  the  top  a  man  wear- 
ing a  close  resemblance  to  the  stovepipe  hat  of  civilization. 
Below  him  stood  a  stout  gentleman  with  a  smile  from  ear 
to  ear  and  with  his  hands  folded  complacently  over  his 
stomach.  Evidently  he  had  dined  well.  Beneath  him  was 
a  figure  with  his  hands  also  on  his  stomach  but  with  a  far 
less  happy  expression.  His  wife  was  a  poor  cook.  Thus 
the  alien  reads  the  story.  Many  of  the  figures  have  long 
horse  faces.  There  is  a  decided  display  of  teeth.  The 
noses  of  some  were  never  seen  on  sea  or  land.  The  ma- 
jority wore  expressions  resigned,  belligerent  or  lugu- 
brious.   Few  really  happy  faces  were  to  be  seen. 


From  Seattle  Northward  27 

In  colors  the  poles  are  as  weird  as  in  carving.  One 
man  had  a  complexion  like  a  camouflaged  boat.  Sea 
green  faces  are  not  unusual.  Great  patches  of  blue  about 
the  eyes  are  not  uncommon,  and  there  is  quite  a  preva- 
lence of  black  on  the  cheeks  and  chin. 

But  as  grotesque  as  these  columns  seem  with  their  un- 
couth figures  and  strange  colorings,  much  as  they  may 
arouse  the  conjecture  and  sarcasm  and  ribaldry  of  the 
tourist,  they  have  to  the  Indian  a  poetic  and  sacred 
significance. 

To  him  they  are  a  picture,  a  poem,  and  a  religion.  The 
very  uncouthness  of  the  figures  is  intended  and  has  a 
meaning.  It  carries  his  thoughts  back  to  the  dim  begin- 
nings of  time  when  man  and  bird  and  beast  were  not,  in 
his  belief,  as  they  are  now,  but  far  more  wonderful  be- 
ings. These  figures  stand  for  vast  realms  of  imagination 
in  which  his  fancy  roams  and  creates  what  it  will.  The 
poles  also  mean  family  history,  the  prowess  of  ancestors, 
the  traditions  that  incite  to  brave  deeds,  that  help  to  en- 
dure trial  with  dignity,  that  make  one  a  worthy  member 
of  the  tribe. 

Totemism  is  not  confined  to  the  Indians  of  Alaska  but 
is  found  among  many  savage  tribes  in  various  parts  of 
the  world.  Most  tribes  possess  a  set  of  beliefs  and  prac- 
tices mythological,  religious,  ceremonial,  artistic,  and 
economic  that  grow  from  their  attitude  toward  animals, 
plants,  and  inanimate  objects.  These  beliefs  and  prac- 
tices govern  their  mode  of  life  and  give  rise  to  their  forms 
of  worship.  Totemism  in  its  original  and  widespread 
significance  represented  this  combination  of  social  organ- 
ization and  religious  belief.  This  idea  still  lingers  with 
the  Alaskan  Indians  in  the  significance  the  totem  has  in 
regard  to  their  family  and  the  family  myths  and  super- 
stitions. 


28  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


These  Indians  believe  they  are  descended  from  some 
bird,  beast,  fish,  or  other  object,  and  take  this  as  their 
symbol.  The  emblem  chosen  is  carved  or  painted  on  all 
belongings  and  is  regarded  as  the  visible  manifestation  of 
some  powerful  mystical  being  who  has  to  do  with  their 
welfare.  The  totem  carries  with  it  certain  obligations. 
Those  with  the  same  crest,  for  instance,  cannot  inter- 
marry. It  is,  one  might  say,  a  symbolic  way  of  express- 
ing certain  laws  that  hold  in  civilized  communities. 

The  Alaskan  totem  pole  is  of  three  kinds.  One  is  the 
family  totem  and  is  the  one  seen  in  front  of  the  Indian 
houses.  It  represents  the  totem  of  the  family  and  rela- 
tions. Another  is  the  death  totem  in  which  the  ashes  of 
the  departed  are  placed.  The  third  is  the  "  story  master  " 
totem  and  illustrates  some  remarkable  event. 

Any  one  versed  in  totem  lore  can  read  these  totems  as 
he  would  a  book.  It  is  said  that  of  the  present  tribes,  the 
Hydahs  best  understand  the  totem  and  can  read  one,  es- 
pecially the  story  master  totem,  for  an  hour  or  more, 
whereas  a  member  of  some  other  tribes  will  get  only  the 
briefest  and  most  superficial  tale. 

A  tourist  gazing  at  a  totem  with  an  eagle,  a  bear  hold- 
ing two  whales,  and  with  a  seal  below,  would  probably  see 
in  the  grotesque  carving  merely  something  to  idly  specu- 
late about  or  pass  a  joke  on.  But  a  Hydah  Indian  would 
read  the  story  of  two  of  his  tribe  belonging  respectively 
to  the  Eagle  and  Bear  families  who  went  hunting  seals, 
were  drowned  and  turned  into  whales.  It  would  bring 
to  mind  the  belief  that  whenever  a  Hydah  is  lost  at  sea 
he  becomes  a  whale  and  the  kindly  feeling  this  tribe  has 
for  whales.  It  is  said  that  whenever  these  Indians  see 
whales  they  throw  overboard  fresh  water  that  the  spirits 
of  friends  or  relatives  inhabiting  these  whales  may  have 
something  fresh  to  drink. 


From  Seattle  Northward  29 

Some  of  these  totems  are  rather  modern.  One  at 
Kasan,  some  fifty  feet  high,  has  at  the  top  an  eagle,  the 
totem  of  the  great  chief  Skwall;  then  the  head  of  a  Rus- 
sian saint,  that  of  the  archangel  Michael ;  then,  a  Russian 
bishop,  and,  lastly,  that  of  a  white  man  surmounted  by  an 
eagle.  It  was  erected  to  commemorate  the  baptism  of  the 
chief  of  the  family  into  the  Russian  church  at  Sitka. 

The  different  tribes  have  their  quaint  legends,  too,  as 
to  the  original  adoption  of  these  symbols.  The  Hydahs 
tell  a  story  of  the  deluge  in  which  all  things  were  drowned 
but  the  raven.  This  bird,  while  sitting  on  the  beach  after 
the  waters  had  subsided,  saw  a  huge  shell  thrown  up  by  the 
waves.  After  much  effort  he  opened  it  and  out  came  a 
number  of  small  people  who  warmly  thanked  the  raven 
for  their  deliverance  and  promised  always  to  care  for  him. 
Thus  the  Hydahs  came  and  this  is  the  reason  the  raven  is 
their  principal  totem. 

The  eagle,  the  bear,  the  frog,  and  other  animals  seen  on 
the  totem  poles  usually  have  some  myth  connected  with 
their  appropriation  by  the  family  that  claims  them.  These 
myths  are  almost  innumerable,  and  when  one  can  read  a 
totem  as  the  Indians  read  it,  he  finds  it  a  poem  of  the 
primeval,  wild  in  its  imagery,  simple  in  its  beauty,  and 
inspiring  in  its  truth.  The  ravens  that  soar  through  the 
blue,  Alaskan  sky,  the  eagle  that  swoops  over  the  waters 
and  up  into  some  dead  tree  along  shore,  the  bear  that 
prowls  through  the  woods,  take  on  a  new  significance.  He 
begins  to  see  with  Indian  eyes,  and  a  tinge  of  romance  and 
interest  is  given  these  birds  and  beasts  of  the  wild  that 
lends  fresh  zest  to  the  trip. 


CHAPTER    III 

into   american    waters 
Scenic  beauty  increases  as  voyage  continues.  Prince  Rupert 

ANT)       ITS       future.      MeTLAKATLA    AND       FATHER       DUNCAN. 

"Fifty-four,    Forty,   or    Fight."    Names    reminiscent  of 

EARLY   EXPLORERS.      KeTCHIKAN   AND   SIDE  TRIPS.      WrANGELL, 
its  HISTORY  AND  PLACES  OF  INTEREST. 

From  Alert  Bay  the  steamer  swings  out  into  Queen 
Charlotte  Sound,  and  here  the  swells  of  the  Pacific  may 
be  felt  for  a  few  hours.  The  trip  to  southeastern  Alaska 
is,  in  the  main,  as  smooth  as  a  sail  on  a  river.  At  two 
points  only  do  the  waves  of  the  Pacific  roll  in  without 
break  and  this  only  for  a  brief  time.  Then  the  sheltering 
islands  begin  again  and  the  water  is  as  tranquil  as  the 
farthest  inland  river  or  placid  lake.  It  is  this  that  makes 
the  trip  so  unique.  For  a  thousand  miles,  the  waterway 
stretches  embosomed  in  the  most  magnificent  scenery  in 
the  world.  Yet  this  trip  can  be  taken  by  the  most  timid 
of  water  travellers  without  a  qualm. 

After  the  open  waters  of  Queen  Charlotte  Sound  are 
left  behind  begins  one  of  the  loveliest  of  the  winding 
waterways  of  the  journey.  At  times  the  passage  is  so 
narrow  it  seems  as  if  one  can  almost  touch  the  grasses 
growing  along  the  shore,  or  pick  the  lovely  wild  flowers 
that  brighten  gray  boulders  or  give  glowing  notes  of  color 
under  the  sombre  spruce. 

Islands  are  everywhere,  crowded  to  their  very  edge 
with  trees,  arranged  so  symmetrically  they  appear  to  have 
been  planted  by  hand  to  give  a  neat,  orderly  appearance 

30 


Into  American  Waters  31 

to  these  islets.  Some  of  the  islands  are  quite  round  in 
shape  and  look  like  a  ball  of  rich  green  in  the  blue  water. 
Others  have  sharp  points  with  trees  in  single  rows  daintily 
stepping  to  their  very  extremity  as  if  to  lend  a  note  of 
picturesque  variety. 

At  times  the  shores  run  steeply  up  into  green,  towering 
mountains  making  the  passage  seem  a  dark,  awe-inspiring 
fiord;  again  the  banks  sink  lower  and  beyond  are  great 
snowy  peaks. 

At  night,  when  the  course  winds  around  jutting  points 
and  into  seemingly  landlocked  bays,  the  friendly  gleam  of 
tiny  lighthouses  beams  out  and  seems  to  say,  "  Come  on, 
you're  safe."  As  the  boat  twists  and  turns,  near  at  hand 
and  far  ahead  flash  these  messages  of  guidance.  Night- 
fall in  these  northern  latitudes  is  often  but  a  matter  of 
color,  a  coming  for  a  brief  while  of  purple  shadows  on  the 
mountains  and  along  the  shore.  But  the  little  lighthouses 
go  on  duty  and  as  cheerily  blink  away  through  the  twi- 
light as  though  darkness  had  fallen. 

These  Alaskan  nights,  which  are  not  night  as  we  know 
it,  often  have  most  glorious  sunsets.  At  eight,  nine,  ten 
o'clock,  according  to  the  latitude,  for  the  sun  seems  loath 
to  depart  in  the  summer,  massive  purple  clouds  pile  up  in 
the  western  sky.  Nature  fires  her  sunset  gun  and  the 
whole  mass  is  lighted  from  behind  as  if  with  flames.  The 
fretted  edges  are  tinged  with  lines  of  fire.  Through  nar- 
row openings  the  glorious  crimson  pours  out,  tingeing  the 
waves  with  red,  which  shades  in  the  distance  to  a  lovely 
salmon  pink.  Mountains  take  on  a  rosy  hue,  those  that 
are  cone-shaped  seeming  to  be  flaming  volcanoes. 

Then,  just  as  the  sun  drops,  the  clouds  part  as  if  a 
master  stage  manager  had  drawn  aside  the  curtains,  and, 
for  a  moment,  it  is  seen,  a  great,  glowing,  red  ball.  Then 
it  disappears  in  the  crimson  waves.    The  colors  begin  to 


32  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

pale.  The  world  turns  a  faint,  ethereal  amethystine  color 
and  then  a  rich  violet  blue  settles  softly  over  the  moun- 
tains. The  patches  of  snow  gleam  gray-white.  The 
water  grows  black  in  the  shadow  of  the  hills.  But  far 
aloft  the  sky  is  still  brightly  clear  with  that  peculiar  purity 
of  tone  for  v/hich  these  northern  skies  are  noted,  till  grad- 
ually the  light  grows  brighter  and  day  begins  to  dawn. 

One  does  not  get  up  to  see  a  sunrise  in  Alaska.  He 
stays  up  and  then  goes  to  bed. 

The  next  point  of  call  for  the  Canadian  boats  is  Prince 
Rupert.  This  is  the  terminus  for  Canada's  latest  trans- 
continental railroad  and  is  quite  new  and  modern.  The 
little  town  nestles  against  forest  clothed  hills  and  rises, 
tier  upon  tier,  up  the  side  of  the  mountain.  So  steep  is 
the  ascent  that  the  planked  streets  are  frequently  built  on 
trestles  on  the  descending  ground  beneath,  and  the  fronts 
of  houses  in  order  to  be  on  a  level  with  the  street  are  built 
on  pilings  while  the  back  part  rests  upon  the  solid  moun- 
tain rock.  But  in  spite  of  these  obstacles,  it  is  a  cheery 
little  place  with  great  hopes  for  its  future.  It  is  the 
nearest  Pacific  port  to  the  great  ports  of  the  Orient.  It 
has  lumber,  minerals,  and  a  great  grain  region  to  draw 
upon,  and  its  people  believe  that  some  day  it  will  be  one  of 
the  great  cities  of  the  Pacific. 

It  has  one  asset  rather  unique  in  this  part  of  the  world 
—  a  natural  hot  salt  water  bathing  place.  Near  the  beach 
is  a  little  inland  bay,  if  one  may  so  call  it,  and  two  lakes. 
When  the  tide  goes  out,  these  are  left  dry,  and  the  earth 
grows  hot  under  the  warm  rays  of  the  sun.  When  the 
tide  returns,  the  heat  from  the  earth  warms  the  water, 
and  the  people  of  Prince  Rupert  flock  there  for  their  hot 
salt  water  baths. 

Beyond  Prince  Rupert  is  a  most  interesting  place.  Old 
Metlakatla,  where  William  Duncan,  Father  Duncan  as  he 


Into  American  Waters  33 

was  later  called,  began  the  missionary  work  among  the 
northwest  Indians  that  eventually  attracted  worldwide 
attention. 

When  sea  captains  and  explorers  began  to  return  to 
England  from  the  northwest  coast  of  America  during  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  they  brought  horrible  tales  of 
the  barbarous  cruelties  practised  by  the  natives.  These 
tales  aroused  the  compassion  of  Duncan  and  fired  him 
with  zeal  to  attempt  the  civilization  of  these  tribes.  He 
was  holding  a  lucrative  position  at  the  time  but  he  decided 
to  give  it  up  and  enter  upon  this  work. 

Many  tried  to  persuade  him  from  such  a  seemingly 
hopeless  task,  even  Sir  James  Douglas,  the  Governor, 
doing  all  in  his  power  when  Duncan  reached  Victoria  to 
stop  him  from  so  recklessly  throwing  away  his  life.  But 
Duncan  would  not  be  turned  aside,  and  went  to  Fort 
Simpson,  a  post  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  and  began 
his  work. 

The  fort  itself  was  indicative  of  the  temperament  of 
the  Indians.  It  was  protected  by  palisades  of  heavy  tim- 
ber, had  massive  gates,  and  was  flanked  with  four  bastions 
with  galleries  mounted  with  cannon.  Sentinels  kept 
watch  day  and  night,  and  when  the  Indians  came  to  trade, 
so  treacherous  were  they  known  to  be,  that  only  a  few 
were  admitted  at  a  time. 

Undaunted  by  what  he  saw  and  heard,  Duncan  bent 
himself  to  the  task  ahead  of  him.  His  first  work  was  to 
learn  the  language.  This  language  abounds  in  metaphor 
and  Duncan  knew  he  must  get  not  only  the  words  but  the 
Indian's  way  of  thinking  and  of  using  these  words,  if  he 
really  wanted  to  speak  their  native  tongue.  The  value 
of  this  thorough  work  was  shown  by  an  incident  that 
happened  to  a  worker  who  came  later  into  this  field  and 
who  did  not  grasp,  as  had  Duncan,  the  difference  between 


34  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


the  spoken  word  and  the  thought  back  of  it.  This  new 
missionary  blandly  addressed  a  group  of  Indians  as 
"  Children  of  the  forest,"  a  phrase  he  believed  poetic  and 
complimentary.  Translated  into  the  Indian  thought  this 
was,  "  Little  men  among  many  sticks  or  stumps,"  an  im- 
plication the  Indians  resented,  and  the  missionary  had 
little  success  among  them. 

Father  Duncan  made  no  such  mistakes.  He  labored 
till  he  could  reach  them  in  their  own  picturesque  phraseol- 
ogy, then  he  made  a  simple  address  explaining  his  mission. 
Also,  through  the  Indian  who  was  teaching  him,  he  had 
let  it  be  known  that  he  had  come  to  tell  them  of  the  white 
man's  God  and  also  many  things  that  would  be  helpful 
to  them.  He  thus  aroused  their  curiosity,  and  when 
finally  he  opened  a  school  at  the  house  of  a  chief,  it  was 
eagerly  attended  by  both  old  and  young.  The  attendance 
grew,  and,  eventually,  a  log  schoolhouse  was  built. 

Father  Duncan  was  shrewd  enough  to  realize  that  along 
with  the  moral  lessons  he  was  anxious  to  inculcate  must 
go  some  practical  benefits,  if  he  wanted  to  make  the  im- 
pression he  desired.  So  he  introduced  certain  industrial 
enterprises.  The  first  of  these  was  soap  making.  At  his 
coming  the  Indians  were  obliged  to  pay  one  mink  skin  for 
a  very  small  piece  of  common  yellow  soap.  They  were 
quick  to  see  the  economy  of  making  their  own. 

His  efforts  to  improve  their  condition  morally  and  in- 
dustrially quickly  aroused  the  opposition  of  the  medicine 
men  of  the  tribe  who  saw  their  influence  slipping  away, 
and  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  who  saw  their  profits 
disappearing.  Both  tried  to  break  up  his  work,  and  many 
times  he  had  narrow  escapes  from  attempts  on  his  life. 
Such  things  had  no  effect  upon  him  personally,  but  certain 
pernicious  influences  at  the  fort,  he  saw,  did  retard  the 
work,  so  he  decided  to  move  and  establish  a  model  town. 


Into  American  Waters  35 

The  site  of  what  is  now  Old  Metlakatla  was  chosen.  It 
was  a  good  fishing  and  hunting  ground,  had  a  fine  harbor 
and  rich  soil.  A  set  of  rules  for  conduct  was  drawn  up 
to  which  each  who  went  must  subscribe.  About  thirty- 
agreed,  and  the  little  colony  moved  to  their  new  home.  In 
about  a  week  thirty  more  canoes  came  bringing  about 
three  hundred  Indians,  including  two  chiefs. 

Father  Duncan  saw  it  would  be  wise  to  place  some  of 
the  responsibility  of  government  upon  the  Indians  them- 
selves. A  village  council  of  twelve  was  elected,  a  native 
constabulary  formed,  taxes  in  the  form  of  blankets  and 
clothing  imposed  for  such  public  works  as  drainage, 
roads,  and  public  grounds.  Evil  forms  of  amusement, 
such  as  gambling,  were  replaced  with  healthy  athletics 
and  games. 

The  work  prospered.  The  Hudson  Bay  Company,  be- 
cause of  loss  of  profitable  trade,  refused  to  bring  the  little 
colony  supplies,  and  Duncan  bought  a  boat  and  did  his 
own  trading.  The  Indians  themselves  subscribed  to  this, 
and  when  they  received  their  profits  from  the  venture  and 
were  made  to  understand  how  these  profits  were  gained, 
they  instantly  named  the  boat,  "  Kahah,"  slave,  for,  said 
they,  "  It  does  all  the  work.    We  reap  profit." 

A  village  cooperative  store  was  established  and  a 
savings  bank.  Here  again  the  figurative  language  of  the 
Indians  is  seen,  for  when  the  dividends  were  declared  and 
the  method  explained  to  them,  they  said,  "  The  blankets 
have  swollen." 

Finally  it  was  decided  to  build  a  new  village.  The  old 
houses  were  pulled  down,  and  model  homes,  a  church, 
town  hall,  shops,  and  other  buildings  erected. 

The  growth  of  the  colony  and  its  prosperity  attracted 
much  comment  and  nearly  all  the  distinguished  visitors  to 
this  part  of  the  world  stopped  to  see  it,  and  loud  were  their 


36  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

praises  of  the  appearance  of  the  town  and  of  the  improve- 
ment in  the  Indians.  Trouble  finally  arose  however  with 
the  Church  of  England  about  technical  questions,  and 
with  the  government  on  matters  of  land.  As  the  best 
solution  the  colony  decided  to  move  over  the  boundary 
line  into  American  territory.  Annette  Island  was  chosen, 
and  here  New  Metlakatla  was  established.  This  was 
finally  made  a  reservation  by  Act  of  Congress. 

The  settlement  was  at  first  as  successful  as  Old  Met- 
lakatla, but  with  increasing  years  Father  Duncan  did  not 
keep  up  with  his  progressive  policy  and  the  colony  retro- 
graded. It  has  lately  been  taken  in  charge  by  the  Bureau 
of  Education  for  the  natives  and  is  again  on  the  road  to 
prosperity. 

Soon  after  Fort  Simpson  and  the  site  of  Old  Met- 
lakatla are  passed,  the  famous  "  Fifty-four,  Forty,  or 
Fight  "  line  is  crossed,  though  the  traveller  is  not  apt  to 
know  it,  and  he  is  now  in  Alaskan  waters.  This  line 
marks  the  boundary  between  American  and  British  terri- 
tory. Back  in  the  last  century,  in  '43  and  '44,  it  came  near 
getting  the  United  States  into  trouble  with  Great  Britain. 
The  Russian  dominions  ended  at  latitude  fifty-four,  forty ; 
the  Spanish  or  Alexican  with  California.  The  region  be- 
tween was  generally  known  as  Oregon  and  claimed  by 
both  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  though  for 
years  the  dispute  took  no  active  form.  But  in  1842, 
settlers  began  to  pour  into  Oregon  and  the  controversy 
became  acute.  In  1844,  the  Democrats  took  the  matter 
up  and  made  a  campaign  issue  of  it  with  the  slogan, 
"  Fifty-four,  Forty,  or  Fight."  A  compromise  was  finally 
effected. 

Nearly  all  these  waters  from  Seattle  northward  have 
historic  interest  of  one  kind  or  another  and  many  are 
reminiscent,  in  their  names,  of  the  early  explorers. 


into  American  Waters  37 

It  was  believed  in  the  early  days  of  the  discovery  of  the 
Western  Hemisphere  that  a  passage  could  be  found  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  and  many  were  the  navi- 
gators that  sailed  in  search  of  it.  In  the  course  of  their 
wanderings  some  found  their  way  into  this  beautiful 
Inside  Passage  and  some  of  the  earliest  believed  this  to 
be  the  long  sought  for  channel,  though  they  never  fol- 
lowed it  sufficiently  to  discover  they  were  in  error. 

One  of  these  was  Juan  de  Fuca,  for  whom  the  strait  at 
the  lower  end  of  Vancouver  Island  has  been  named, 
though  many  navigators  believed  de  Fuca  never  reached 
these  waters  and  that  his  tales  are  purely  mythical.  But 
Michael  Lok,  a  reputable  English  navigator,  reports  in  his 
journal  that  de  Fuca  told  him  of  passing  "  divers  Hands  in 
that  Sayling  and  saw  people  on  Land  clad  in  Beast's 
skins,"  and  that  the  land  was  "  very  fruitfull  and  rich  of 
gold,  silver,  pearle  and  other  things,"  which,  whether  he 
saw  it  or  not,  very  aptly  describes  this  section. 

Man}^  other  Spaniards  sailed  these  waters  and  their 
presence  is  recalled  to-day  in  such  names  as  Revillagigedo, 
the  island  upon  which  Ketchikan  is  located  and  which  was 
named  for  a  viceroy  of  Mexico;  Hecate  Strait,  between 
Queen  Charlotte  Islands  and  the  mainland  and  named  for 
St.  Bruno  Hecate.  But  Captain  Cook  and  George  Van- 
couver are  the  navigators  who  left  the  greatest  number 
of  names,  and  their  nomenclature  is  met  at  every  turn. 

The  next  stopping  place  is  Ketchikan,  and  this  is  the 
first  American  port  of  entry.  It  is  a  picturesque  little 
town  perilously  perched  on  the  side  of  a  mountain,  and 
looking  as  if  it  might  at  any  moment  slide  into  the  har- 
bor. Just  enough  trees  have  been  cut  down  to  allow  the 
building  of  the  houses,  hence  the  forest  encloses  the  town 
on  all  sides  and  clothes  the  mountains  thickly  to  their  very 
tops.    The  houses  are  perched  on  jutting  rocks.    They  are 


38  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

tucked  away  in  all  sorts  of  nooks  and  corners.  The  roof 
of  one  will  be  on  a  level  with  the  doorstep  of  the  next. 
Streets  turn  and  twist  with  an  utter  disregard  of  regu- 
larity. In  these  respects  it  seems  more  like  a  little  foreign 
town  than  an  American  city. 

A  foaming  mountain  stream  with  snowy  rapids  and 
cascades  rushes  down  through  the  town,  and  a  walk  up 
the  banks  of  the  stream  is  one  of  the  events  of  the  time 
spent  ashore.  The  water  has  the  crystalline  clearness  of 
mountain  streams  and  foams  over  great  boulders  and 
mossy  logs,  and  leaps  down  miniature  falls  in  its  eager 
haste  to  the  sea.  The  banks  are  green  with  luxuriant 
shrubbery,  wild  blackberries,  raspberries,  salmon  berries 
and  bushes  of  many  kinds.  The  ground  dogwood  stars 
the  earth  with  its  snowy  blossoms  and  wild  flowers  em- 
broider the  wooded  path  with  color.  Stairways  of  logs 
all  covered  with  green  moss  like  a  velvet  carpet  lead  off  to 
homes  hidden  among  the  trees.  Everywhere  is  over- 
flowing luxuriance  in  the  vegetation  that  embanks  the 
shining,  sparkling  water  so  swiftly  rushing  by.  In  the 
thick  spruce  woods,  the  note  of  a  thrush  comes  sweetly 
through  the  fragrant  air  and  blends  with  the  music  of 
the  stream. 

This  creek  is  a  salmon  stream,  and,  during  the  run,  the 
fish  can  be  seen  swarming  up  its  waters  and  leaping  its 
waterfalls  on  their  way  to  the  spawning  grounds. 

Nearly  all  the  Alaskan  towns  along  the  coast  present 
the  characteristics  of  Ketchikan  —  a  cluster  of  houses 
under  overshadowing  mountains,  planked  streets  and 
sidewalks,  and  much  of  the  town  built  on  pilings  over  the 
water. 

From  Ketchikan  a  number  of  interesting  side  trips  can 
be  made.  One  is  through  Rudyerd  Bay,  which  lies  back 
of  Ketchikan  to  the  east.    It  is  one  of  the  loveliest  v/ater- 


Into  American  Waters  ;  39 

ways  of  the  coast,  winding  under  frowning  cliffs  in  and 
out  among  islands,  with  snow  mountains,  four  thousand, 
five  thousand,  and  six  thousand  feet  high,  uprearing 
their  glistening  peaks  in  the  distance.  In  the  centre  of  the 
bay  rises  a  rock,  sheer  and  precipitous,  several  hundred 
feet  high. 

Another  trip  is  across  to  Prince  of  Wales  Island  where 
is  old  Kazan  with  its  interesting  totem  poles,  probably 
the  greatest  number  in  any  one  place  in  Alaska.  This 
island  is  one  of  the  seats  of  the  Hydahs,  one  of  the  most 
intelligent  and  advanced  of  the  Indians  of  Alaska. 

Opposite  Ketchikan,  on  an  island,  is  an  Indian  grave- 
yard with  totems. 

The  steamer  is  soon  threading  its  way  through  what  is 
known  as  the  Alexander  Archipelago,  a  group  of  eleven 
hundred  islands  that  have  been  charted,  and  innumerable 
smaller  ones,  mere  dots  of  rock  and  trees,  that  are  not 
charted.  The  scene  is  one  of  enchantment  —  placid  blue 
waters;  wooded  shores;  steep  slopes  richly  dark  with 
spruce  and  hemlock,  with  strips  of  paler  green  where 
avalanches  have  swept  down,  and  grass  and  birch  and 
willow  have  sprung  to  cover  the  scar;  of  great  cascades, 
pouring  joyously  from  the  mountain  tops;  of  patches  of 
snow  lingering  in  the  shadows;  and  always  with  a  great 
amphitheatre  of  jagged  peaks  in  the  far  distance  making 
a  beautiful  background  of  tender,  dreamy  blue  and  pure 
white  for  the  richer,  deeper  coloring  at  hand. 

Through  this  land  of  beauty,  the  boat  quietly  glides.  A 
salmon  leaps,  shivering  the  water  into  a  thousand  silvery 
ripples.  Gulls  soar  and  dip.  Wild  ducks  speed  away  on 
swiftly  fluttering  wings.  Never  is  there  monotony.  The 
channel  narrows  till  its  towering  green  walls  seem  right 
at  hand.  It  sweeps  up  to  a  seemingly  impassable  granite 
cliff,  but  the  water  deftly  turns  a  corner  and  hurries  away 


40  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

into  a  broad,  mountain-surrounded  lake.  Vistas  of 
enchanting  waterways  stretch  in  many  directions, 
arousing  with  their  tempting  beauty  the  longing  to  ex- 
plore. The  steamer  serenely  threads  its  way  through  this 
maze,  knowing  its  course;  though  the  passengers  vainly 
try  to  guess  which  passage  will  be  chosen,  and  usually 
guess  the  wrong  one.  Thus,  at  last,  one  comes  to  Wran- 
gell,  a  town  of  more  than  usual  interest,  though  of  not 
much  size. 

Wrangell  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  Stikine  River,  and 
during  the  days  of  the  gold  rush  was  the  outfitting  point 
for  those  going  to  the  gold  fields  by  way  of  the  Stikine 
River  and  Lake  Teslin.  Some  went  still  farther  inland  to 
the  headwaters  of  the  Pelly  and  down  this  river  to  the 
Yukon.  Both  are  hard  trails.  But  the  hardships  were 
not  discovered  till  the  gold  seekers  had  started,  and  then 
they  did  not  turn  back. 

Mines  are  still  being  worked  up  the  Stikine  River  and 
boats  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  ply  up  its  waters. 
Even  before  the  rush  of  '98,  mining  was  done  far  up  the 
river  and  on  the  tributaries  of  the  Mackenzie,  so  that  it 
has  been  a  central  point  for  miners  for  almost  half  a 
century. 

It  was  founded  by  the  Russians  in  1834,  and  named 
for  Baron  Wrangell,  the  then  governor  of  Alaska.  It 
was  early  an  Indian  settlement,  the  principal  town  of  the 
Stikine  Indians  being  Old  Wrangell,  some  distance  south 
of  the  present  town.  It  is  claimed  that  the  first  carved 
totem  poles  in  Alaska  were  set  up  here,  and  the  totem 
poles  of  Wrangell  are  among  the  most  famous  in  the 
Territory,  though  they  are  at  present  in  rather  a  tottering 
and  weather-beaten  condition. 

The  Indian  village  lies  to  the  south  of  the  town  and  at 
some  distance  from  the  pier.     If  time  permits,  a  visit  is 


Into  American  Waters  41 

interesting.  Here  is  to  be  found  the  Shakes  House  which 
contains  many  curios  belonging  to  the  tribe  of  which 
Chief  Shakes,  now  dead,  was  merely  the  custodian.  It 
is  an  interesting  place  and  many  of  the  curios  are  valu- 
able from  an  ethnological  standpoint. 

At  the  other  end  of  the  town  are  the  remains  of  the  old 
fort  built  in  1838,  used  by  our  government  when  we  took 
over  Alaska,  and  finally  abandoned  in  1900.  Near  it  are 
the  jail,  the  home  of  the  United  States  marshal,  the  post 
office  and  other  government  offices. 

This  part  of  the  town  is  very  attractive,  being  on  rising 
ground  and  commanding  a  view  of  the  beautiful  harbor 
with  its  pretty  islands  and  surrounding  mountains.  Neat, 
attractive  homes  are  here  with  pretty  flower  gardens  and 
tempting  vegetable  patches. 

Many  enjoyable  side  trips  can  be  taken  from  Wrangell, 
one  being  to  the  Le  Conte  Glacier,  and  another  to  the  west 
coast  of  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  on  which  are  numerous 
native  villages  both  recent  and  old.  There  are  also  many 
pretty  and  interesting  places  merely  from  the  standpoint 
of  beautiful  scenery  that  can  be  reached  within  easy  dis- 
tance of  Wrangell. 

One  of  the  most  delightful  of  these  excursions  into  the 
heart  of  fine  scenery  is  up  the  Stikine  River.  Such 
a  trip,  aside  from  its  scenic  interest,  has  a  tinge  of  the 
romantic  in  that  one  is  following  the  trail  of  the  gold 
seekers  and  also  one  of  the  old  Hudson  Bay  routes.  Its 
lower  course  lies  through  grassy  meadows  dotted  with 
clumps  of  spruce  and  fir.  Then  it  begins  to  enter  the 
mountains  and  finally  sweeps  into  a  magnificent  canyon, 
the  walls  rising  to  a  height  here  and  there  of  several 
thousand  feet.  Glaciers  hang  over  the  clififs,  descend  the 
sides,  and  push  out  even  to  the  river  itself.  Waterfalls 
send  their  joyous  voice  and  rainbow  colors  to  greet  eye 


42  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


and  ear.  Birds  sing ;  golden  bees  flit  over  miles  and  miles 
of  wild  roses,  honeysuckle,  clover,  and  countless  other 
rich-hued  and  fragrant  blossoms.  One  can  scarcely  real- 
ize he  is  in  what  he  had  supposed  to  be  an  Arctic  region. 
Only  the  presence  of  the  glaciers  and  the  snow-capped 
mountains  bring  the  thought  of  Arctic  snows,  and  these 
but  temper  the  air  refreshingly,  making  its  gentle  touch 
as  a  draught  of  cool  spring  water  to  the  thirsty  palate. 


CHAPTER    IV 


WRANGELL    TO    SKAGWAY 


Beautiful  Wrangell  Narrows.  The  first  glacier.  Peters- 
burg. Taku  Inlet,  its  fairy  fleet  of  icebergs  and  its 
GLACIERS.  Juneau.  Side  trips  from  Juneau.  Lynn  Canal. 
Haines,  Fort  William  H.  Seward  and  Skagway. 

The  scenery  grows  more  and  more  beautiful  as  the 
journey  proceeds  northward.  There  is  no  anti-chmax. 
In  fact,  a  Canadian  admitted  that  the  finest  scenery  did 
not  begin  until  the  American  waters  were  reached.  But 
scenery  has  no  nationality.  No  one  can  cavil  at  the 
beauty  that  lies  behind.  That  it  grows  more  impressive 
is  only  reason  for  rejoicing. 

Wrangell  Narrows  are  famous  for  their  loveliness. 
They  wind  in  the  same  alluring  fashion  as  the  channels 
already  threaded,  between  high  mountain  walls  clothed 
with  spruce  and  cedar,  around  great  gray  bluffs,  past  innu- 
merable islands.  The  way  is  well  marked  with  light- 
houses and  buoys,  and  so  devious  is  the  channel  that  in 
some  stretches  the  guiding  posts  of  various  kinds  seem 
every  few  yards  and  the  width  between  those  on  each  side 
scarcely  sufficient  for  the  passage  of  the  boat. 

In  some  places  along  the  shore  are  strips  of  vivid  green 
grass  before  the  dense  growth  of  trees  begins.  The 
waterfalls  grow  in  size  and  volume,  roaring  down  amidst 
the  rocks,  disappearing  among  the  trees,  flashing  out  again 
in  silver  radiance  at  the  water's  edge.     The  mountains 

43 


44  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

become  higher,  some  rising  almost  ten  thousand  feet,  the 
lower  parts,  the  tender  blue  of  the  sky;  the  upper,  great 
snow  fields.  Range  upon  range,  they  soar  away  into  the 
distance,  some  with  sharp  peaks  like  the  Matterhorn; 
some  with  peaks  like  a  great  cabin,  its  roof  covered  with 
snow,  others  resembling  tents.  Over  the  snowy  side  of 
one  mountain  lay  what  seemed  like  a  trail  of  enormous 
footprints  as  if  some  giant  had  walked  across  the  moun- 
tain top  upon  some  errand  of  his  world. 

Great  flocks  of  wild  ducks  fly  swiftly  over  the  waters, 
the  rhythmical  flash  of  white  on  their  wings  adding  to  the 
charm  of  the  scene. 

The  first  glacier  comes  into  view,  a  great  majestic  river 
of  ice  sweeping  down  from  the  sky.  Little  icebergs  ap- 
pear, tiny,  fairy  fleets,  snow  white  excepting  for  a  won- 
derful blue  at  their  base. 

One  speculates  as  his  gaze  rests  upon  the  beauty  all 
about,  if  the  gold  seekers  who  travelled  this  route  in  the 
days  of  the  rush  had  so  much  "  gold  dust  in  their  eyes," 
as  John  Muir  expresses  it,  that  they  were  blind  to  the 
wonders  of  nature's  handiwork.  So  absorbed  were  many 
who  went  through  here  in  the  early  days  with  the  thought 
of  gold  that  there  seemed  to  be  no  other  interest  in  life 
worth  considering.  Muir  tells  that  the  natives  said  of  him 
when  they  saw  him  intently  studying  a  tree,  "  What  can 
the  fellow  be  up  to?  I  saw  him  the  other  day  on  his 
knees  looking  at  a  stump  as  if  he  expected  to  find  gold  in 
it."  They  could  not  realize  there  are  many  other  kinds 
of  gold  in  the  world  than  the  shining  metal. 

Petersburg  is  the  next  stop  on  this  part  of  the  coast. 
It  has  a  difi^erent  setting  from  most  of  the  towns  here- 
abouts, having  found  a  level  place  upon  which  to  dispose 
of  itself.  It  is  ([uite  a  centre  for  salmon  canneries  and 
the  shipping  of  fresh  fish,  those  engaged  in  this  business 


Wrangell  Nnrrous 


Wrangell  to  Skagway  45 

getting  all  the  ice  they  need  from  the  bergs  that  float  in 
the  waters  hereabouts. 

It  is  also  in  the  heart  of  a  fisherman's  and  sportsman's 
paradise.  Within  a  few  hours'  run  by  motor  boat,  the 
sportsman  can  find  bear,  deer,  and  wolves,  and,  crossing 
the  range,  can  get  into  the  habitat  of  the  mountain  sheep, 
moose  and  caribou.  Ducks,  geese,  grouse,  and  ptarmigan 
are  plentiful  and  the  streams  swarm  with  varieties  of 
trout.  The  Le  Conte  Glacier,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
Petersburg,  unlike  many  of  the  glaciers  of  Switzerland, 
can  be  easily  approached.  It  is  one  of  the  most  southerly 
live  glaciers  in  the  world  and  huge  blocks  of  ice  fall  from 
it  at  intervals,  and  sail  away  as  majestic  icebergs,  a  sight 
one  does  not  expect  to  see  within  such  easy  reach  of  the 
centres  of  civilization.  Though  the  atmosphere  is  pleas- 
antly cool  from  its  blue  ice  caves,  wild  flowers  and  berries 
grow  in  profusion  all  about. 

From  Petersburg  the  steamer  soon  glides  across  Fred- 
erick Sound  into  narrower  waters  and  then  sweeps  out 
into  what  seems  a  great  lake  blue  as  the  skies  above  and 
entirely  encircled  with  range  upon  range  of  snowy  moun- 
tains. It  is  doubtful  if  the  world  has  elsewhere  a  fairer 
scene  of  its  kind.  One  feels  like  doubting  the  evidence  of 
his  eyes,  for  it  appears  incredible  that  so  much  sheer 
beauty  can  exist  in  one  place. 

Vast,  tremendous,  powerful,  the  mountains  soar  tier 
upon  tier  in  a  great  amphitheatre  as  far  as  the  gaze  can 
reach.  From  this  veritable  world  of  snowy  peaks,  the 
eye  finally  turns  to  the  gentler  beauty  at  hand.  Right 
ahead  lies  a  big,  cone-shaped  mountain,  robed  with  spruce 
to  its  top.  It  seems  an  island  in  the  water  till  the  eye  dis- 
covers a  low,  narrow  causeway  connecting  it  with  the 
mainland.  The  lower  mountains  in  the  foreground  that 
sweep  up  from  the  short  on  all  sides  are  green  with  spruce 


46  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

and  fir.  Snowy  waterfalls  pour  down  their  sides  and 
lend  the  beauty  of  grace  and  movement.  On,  the  eye 
wanders  to  mistily  blue  bases  of  farther  mountains,  and 
still  onward,  till  once  again  that  great,  magnificent  circlet 
of  glittering  peaks  holds  the  gaze  enthralled.  Alaska  is 
truly  snow  girt,  but  there  is  nothing  bleak  or  forbidding 
in  its  aspect.    There  is  only  the  beauty  of  majesty. 

Then  the  steamer  sweeps  around  the  green,  cone-shaped 
mountain  and  a  magic  fleet  of  icebergs,  graceful  shells, 
birds,  turreted  castles,  sea  horses  —  fantasies  of  form 
lovelier  than  any  architect  could  devise  —  all  turquoise 
and  sapphire  and  amethystine  in  tint,  sails  slowly  into 
view.  Beyond  them  lies  a  great  wall  of  blue-white  ice, 
and  still  beyond,  a  vast  sheet  of  ice  reaches  back  to  the 
snowy  peaks  and  the  sky. 

The  Taku  Glacier  stretches  for  a  mile  and  a  half  across 
the  upper  end  of  this  Taku  Inlet  and  towers  three  hundred 
feet  high.  From  this  ice  wall  the  bergs  break,  crashing 
with  a  roar  like  thunder  and  sending  waves  sometimes 
twenty  feet  high  that  set  all  the  other  bergs  to  dancing 
and  dipping  as  if  joyously  greeting  their  newborn  sister. 
The  bergs  are  a  marvellous  blue,  sometimes  opaque  like 
great  blocks  of  turquoise,  again,  a  sapphire  with  crystal 
edges.  In  some  are  arches  and  caverns  that  repeat  in  the 
depths  within  the  exquisitely  pure  azure  tones. 

At  the  head  of  Taku  Inlet  one  has  the  rare  fortune  to 
see  both  a  living  and  a  dead  glacier.  A  short  distance 
from  the  glacier  that  is  moving  forward  at  the  rate  of  ten 
feet  a  day  and  from  which  the  bergs  break  is  a  glacier 
that  has  shown  no  movement  for  two  hundred  years.  It 
is  gradually  receding  and  in  front  of  it  is  quite  a  beach 
with  clumps  of  trees  growing.  The  glacier  is  covered 
with  detritus  and  looks  at  first  glance  like  an  earthy  hill- 
side.    At  times  air  holes  blow  out  in  this,  leaving  great, 


WrangeU  to  Skagway  47 


gaping  chasms  of  fresh  ice,  and  destroying  the  trees  in 
front  and  raising  waves  in  the  Inlet  destructive  to  the  fish- 
ing boats  plying  there. 

To  tlie  right  of  the  live  glacier,  the  Taku  River  flows 
into  the  Inlet,  a  stream  that  rises  far  back  in  the  moun- 
tains and  flows  through  beautiful  scenery  to  its  outlet 
here. 

Reluctantly  the  steamer  turns  and  glides  back  past 
the  bergs  slowly  sailing  to  the  sea,  past  the  sentinel,  cone- 
shaped  mountain,  out  through  the  beautiful  blue  lake  with 
its  encircling  world  of  white,  and  turns  up  the  Gastineau 
Channel  to  Juneau. 

Juneau  is  situated  under  the  shadow  of  towering  green 
mountains.  Indeed  so  small  is  the  space  at  the  base  of 
these  two  great  hills  that  the  wonder  is  a  town  was  ever 
started  there.  But  like  every  other  Alaskan  town,  the 
discovery  of  gold  brought  people,  and  with  people  came 
homes  and  stores  that  spread  themselves  out  picturesquely 
at  the  foot  of  the  two  peaks,  Mt.  Roberts  and  Mt.  Juneau, 
in  whose  canyons  the  gold  had  been  found. 

So  far,  this  is  the  first  place  visited  where  Alaska's  gold 
is  brought  impressively  to  the  traveller's  attention.  It  is 
here  that  the  famous  Treadwell  mines  are  located,  and 
the  almost  equally  famous  Alaska-Gastineau  and  Alaska- 
Juneau  mines.  Seventy  million  dollars  is  a  low  estimate 
for  the  output  of  gold  from  all  the  mines  about  Juneau 
since  its  discovery  in  this  region. 

There  are  three  groups  of  mining  properties  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  Juneau;  one,  the  Alaska- Juneau, 
within  the  town  limits;  another,  the  Alaska-Gastineau, 
about  three  miles  below  at  Thane;  and  the  third,  the 
Treadwell  group,  across  the  channel  at  Treadwell,  con- 
nected so  closely  with  the  little  town  of  Douglas  that  the 
two  are  practically  one  town.    At  varying  distances  from 


48  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Juneau  are  other  mines,  but  these  are  the  famous  three 
that  have  given  this  section  its  reputation  as  a  great  gold- 
bearing  belt.  Tourists  have  heard  so  much  of  the  Tread- 
well  mines  and  so  little  of  the  others,  that  as  the  steamer 
glides  up  the  channel  to  its  dock  and  the  stamp  mills  of 
Alaska-Juneau  and  Alaska-Gastineau  mines  are  seen 
clinging  desperately  to  the  mountain  side,  there  is  often 
much  questioning  as  to  what  these  are  or  if  they  are  the 
famous  Treadwell  mines. 

But  though  the  mines  at  Juneau  are  apt  to  excite  first 
interest  because  of  their  fame  and  because  they  are  first 
seen  as  the  steamer  makes  its  way  up  the  channel,  they  are 
by  no  means  all  that  Juneau  has  to  offer  the  tourist.  The 
town  itself  is  picturesque,  for  the  streets  wander  whither 
they  will  and  twist  and  turn  in  most  unexpected  fashion. 
Indeed,  in  the  early  days,  when  the  place  was  being  laid 
out,  one  of  the  residents  remarked  that  it  would  never 
be  necessary  to  have  streets  as  no  one  would  ever  use  a 
horse  in  this  part  of  the  world,  so,  little  attention  was 
given  to  the  width  of  streets  or  to  the  shape  or  size  of  lots. 
But  the  man  was  a  poor  prophet,  for  to-day  not  only  are 
there  many  horses  but  there  is  also  a  goodly  number  of 
automobiles. 

In  these  early  days  the  miners  themselves  governed  the 
town  through  what  was  known  as  the  Miners'  Meeting. 
This  organization  adopted  rules  and  regulations  govern- 
ing the  location  of  mining  claims  and  the  location  of  a 
town  site.  It  was  at  one  of  these  meetings  that  the  name 
of  the  town  was  chosen,  Harrisburg  being  first  taken  for 
Richard  Harris,  one  of  the  early  discoverers  of  gold  in 
this  section,  and  then  Rockwell,  and  finally,  its  present 
name  in  honor  of  Joseph  Juneau,  who  divided  with  Harris 
the  honor  of  the  original  discovery.  This  Miners'  Meet- 
ing was  also  a  criminal  court,  and  when  two  hangings 


Wrangell  to  Skagway  49 

became  necessary,  each  citizen  shared  the  responsibiHty  by 
having  his  hand  on  the  hangman's  rope. 

But  these  times  are  passed  away  and  to-day  Juneau  is  a 
city  with  many  stores,  some  of  concrete,  with  many  hotels, 
banks,  business  places  of  all  kinds,  and  pretty  homes.  It 
has  a  municipal  wharf  and  coal  yard.  It  has  a  fine  water 
supply  of  ice-cold  spring  water  brought  down  from  the 
mountains,  a  public  library,  a  fine  High  School,  modern  in 
every  way  even  to  a  big  electric  range  for  its  domestic 
science  department;  many  churches,  and  all  that  goes 
to  make  up  comfortable  and  pleasant  living.  For  it  must 
be  remembered  that  Juneau  is  not  only  the  centre  of 
great  mining  and  fishing  industries  which  bring  much 
business  to  its  doors,  but  it  is  the  capital  of  the  Territory 
of  Alaska  and  here  are  centred  not  only  the  headquarters 
of  the  territorial  government  but  many  of  the  federal 
offices  as  well.  In  1899,  Congress  passed  an  Act  by  which 
the  various  branches  of  the  government  were  to  be  estab- 
lished here  when  suitable  buildings  could  be  secured,  and 
the  offices  of  the  Governor  and  Surveyor-General  were 
moved  from  Sitka  in  1907. 

All  these  things  insure  for  Juneau  a  stable  future.  The 
large  mining  projects  mean  the  investment  here  of  mil- 
lions of  dollars  of  capital  and  the  employment  of  many 
thousands  of  men.  This  means  the  distribution  of  a 
large  amount  of  money  in  the  way  of  wages,  a  large  per- 
manent population  to  be  supplied,  and,  consequently,  good 
business.  There  are  also  other  big  industrial  projects 
either  completed  or  under  way.  More  than  six  milHon 
dollars  have  been  expended  within  a  few  years  recently 
within  four  miles  of  Juneau  for  development  and  building 
purposes.  So  that  this  Alaskan  town  feels  that  it  has  a 
bright  future. 

In  addition  to  the  charms  of  the  town  itself,  there  are 


50  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

many  interesting  side  trips  about  Juneau.  Indeed,  the 
tourist  could  most  profitably  make  Juneau  headquarters 
for  a  summer's  vacation  and  find  the  days  filled  with  out- 
door pleasures  that  would  never  pall. 

One  of  the  loveliest  of  these  trips  is  a  ride  or  wall<  up 
the  beautiful  Gold  Creek  Canyon  back  of  the  town  to 
Silver  Bow  Basin  at  its  head.  One  can  go  by  automobile, 
and  it  is  a  delightful  ride,  or  one  can  pack  a  lunch,  add  to 
it  for  dessert  the  wild  berries  that  grow  plentifully  by  the 
roadside,  and  enjoy  one  of  the  most  exhilarating  days 
outdoors  he  is  ever  likely  to  write  on  his  calendar.  It  is 
about  four  miles  to  the  head  of  the  canyon,  a  good  road  all 
the  way,  and  if  a  day  is  taken  for  the  trip,  even  the  one 
least  accustomed  to  walking  can  accomplish  the  expedi- 
tion without  injurious  fatigue. 

Here  and  there  the  road  is  built  of  planking  out  over 
the  canyon.  Below  rushes  Gold  Creek,  a  foaming,  moun- 
tain torrent.  Great  waterfalls  leap  and  tumble  down  the 
sides  of  the  enclosing  mountains  which  tower  at  some 
points  several  thousand  feet.  The  road  at  times  clings 
close  to  the  granite  side  of  the  mountain,  with  the  can- 
yon walls  dropping  sheer  below  hundreds  of  feet.  At 
other  times  it  winds  through  lanes  of  greenery,  the  shrubs 
and  willows  and  wdld  flowers  reaching  far  above  one's 
head.  Wild  flowers  are  everywhere,  a  constant  succes- 
sion of  rich  bloom,  rose  and  gold  and  purple  and  blue. 
Wild  berries  are  plentiful,  big,  luscious,  salmon  berries, 
delicious  raspberries ;  tempting  blackberries,  according  to 
the  season.  Over  the  cliff-like  walls  of  the  canyon  arches 
a  wondcrously  blue  sky,  and  the  air  that  softly  brushes  the 
cheek  has  the  refreshing  coolness  of  mountain  snows  and 
the  .spicy  fragrance  of  spruce  and  fir. 

A  climb  to  the  top  of  Mt.  Roberts  or  Mt.  Juneau  gives 
entrancing  views.    Over  the  top  of  Mt.  Jumbo  on  Doug- 


Wrangell  to  Skagway  51 

las  Island  can  be  seen  the  mountains  on  the  island  beyond 
and  the  waters  of  Chatham  Strait  and  Stephens  Passage. 
To  the  north  rise  the  snowy  Chilkat  Mountains,  and  east- 
ward, the  mountains  roll  in  great,  upheaved  masses  to  the 
Canadian  border. 

A  trip  that  is  not  likely  to  be  equalled  elsewhere  in  the 
world  is  a  motor  ride  to  Mendenhall  Glacier.  Through  a 
world  all  glorious  with  the  rosy  hue  of  fireweed,  the  blue 
of  lupine,  the  fluffy  white  of  Alaska  cotton  and  the 
frosty  sheen  of  silver  spruce,  one  rides  straight  into  the 
heart  of  a  great  mountain  of  blue-white  ice.  In  fretted 
towers  and  castles  and  minarets,  in  caverns  and  crevasses, 
its  front  wall  rises  sheer  a  hundred  feet  and  more,  in 
tones  of  delicately  clear,  tender  blue",  and  rolls  back  in 
frozen,  choppy  waves  to  where  great  jagged,  gray  peaks 
against  the  sky  line  form  the  doorway  through  which  it 
pours  from  invisible  mountains  beyond.  From  its  front 
flows  a  swift,  glacial  river,  and  here  on  the  great  boulders 
at  the  edge  of  the  stream  and  backed  by  the  glacier  stands 
the  Nugget  Creek  Power  House,  a  place  of  shining  bright- 
ness and  order,  of  noiseless,  swiftly  revolving  wheels,  of 
intricate  mechanism  as  wonderful  in  its  way  of  making 
and  sending  light  and  power  to  the  mines  many  miles 
away  as  is  the  great,  silent  glacier  in  its  making  of  conti- 
nents. 

This  glacier,  though  similar  to  Alpine  ice  streams,  is 
larger  than  the  greatest  of  the  Swiss  glaciers.  It  is  more 
than  twenty-five  miles  in  length  as  compared  with  the 
sixteen  miles  of  the  Aletsch  Glacier,  the  greatest  ice  river 
of  the  Swiss  Alps.  The  mountains  at  the  head  of  the 
Mendenhall  Glacier  have  an  elevation  of  about  seven  thou- 
sand feet  and  offer  Alpine  climbing  that  will  require  the 
ice  axe  and  the  iron  shod  boots  of  the  mountaineer. 

On  the  way  to  the  glacier,  you  may  be  privileged  to 


52  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

stop  at  a  little  ranch  hidden  in  the  birch  and  spruce  woods 
where  a  smiling  Indian  woman  will  show  you  her  flocks 
of  white  Leghorn  chickens,  thousands  of  them,  that  cover 
the  ground  like  snow,  and  also  her  thrifty  garden  where 
big  luscious  strawberries  gleam  tantalizingly  under  their 
green  leaves,  and  peas,  potatoes,  cabbage,  carrots,  and 
many  other  thriving  vegetables  may  convert  you  as  to  the 
possibilities  of  farming  in  Alaska.  A  head  of  cauliflower 
ten  and  a  half  inches  high  and  weighing  six  pounds  was 
raised  here,  and  it  was  only  an  average  one  in  a  poor  sea- 
son. You  can  see  the  photograph  of  it  taken  with  the 
measuring  rule  alongside,  if  the  tale  seems  incredible. 
Another  product  of  this  garden  was  a  turnip  weighing 
twenty-one  pounds.  In  the  little  patch  of  strawberries 
thirty  by  forty  feet  were  picked  twenty-two  gallons  of  the 
fruit  besides  what  was  used  by  the  family. 

Another  beautiful  ride  is  out  the  road  to  Auk  Lake. 
It  leads  along  the  upper  end  of  Gastineau  Channel,  with 
its  blue  waters  on  one  side,  spruce  and  fir  woods  on  the 
other,  and  snow  mountains  in  the  distance.  It  sweeps  out 
into  grassy  meadows  with  lupines  and  fireweed  and  golden 
daisies  adding  to  the  loveliness  of  the  scene,  over  rapid 
glacial  streams,  through  woods  with  vegetation  tropical 
in  its  luxuriance. 

Once  a  week  there  is  usually  a  trip  by  boat  up  the  Taku 
River  and  into  the  Lake  Atlin  country.  This  takes  the 
traveller  once  again  into  that  glorious  Taku  inlet  with  its 
fairy  fleet  of  icebergs,  its  encircling  snow  mountains,  its 
glaciers,  and  then  on  up  the  Taku  River  through  towering 
canyon  walls  and  out  upon  the  shores  of  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  mountain  lakes  in  the  world. 

There  are  launch  trips  through  the  beautiful  intricate 
waterways  to  Sitka,  to  Glacier  Bay  and  the  Muir  Glacier 
to  which  the  big  steamers  do  not  go.    In  fact  one  can  put 


Icebergs  in  Takii  Inlet 


Wrangell  to  Skagway  53 


in  many  days  at  Juneau,  with  every  day  filled  with  beauty 
from  nature's  hand. 

But  the  tourist  who  is  journeying  northward  by 
steamer  can  see  but  little  more  than  the  town,  for  the 
steamer  whistle  blows,  "All  aboard,"  is  shouted,  and  the 
trip  is  again  resumed.  As  the  Gastineau  Channel  at  its  up- 
per end  is  too  shallow  to  permit  the  passage  of  steamers, 
though  it  is  being  dredged  and  in  time  vessels  will  pass 
out  this  way,  the  steamer  now  retraces  its  route  down  the 
Gastineau  Channel  and  then  turns  northward  into  Lynn 
Canal. 

Lynn  Canal,  named  by  Vancouver  for  his  birthplace  in 
England,  is  another  scene  of  enchantment.  The  sheer 
beauty  of  it  makes  one  wonder  if  it  really  is  of  this  earth. 
For  sixty  miles  it  extends  in  almost  a  straight  line  north, 
a  placid  sheet  of  blue  water  walled  in  on  both  sides  with 
snow-capped  mountains  that  rise  almost  sheer  from  the 
water's  edge  to  a  height  in  many  places  of  six  thousand 
feet.  Peak  upon  peak  they  range,  their  bases  mistily 
blue,  their  tops  shining  with  their  snowy  burden,  and  with 
snow  in  patches  in  the  crevasses  on  their  sides.  Water- 
falls rush  down  their  steep  declivities,  and  glacier  after 
glacier  sweeps  from  the  sky  line  down  through  ravine  and 
gorge,  often  as  many  as  a  dozen  of  these  great  ice  rivers 
being  seen  at  one  time.  The  Davidson  Glacier,  one  of  the 
most  noted,  spreads  its  great  ice  wall,  almost  three  miles 
wide,  near  the  water's  edge. 

It  Is  a  scene  of  unparalleled  grandeur  —  the  shining 
water,  the  shining  snow  caps  stretching  mile  upon  mile 
into  the  far  distance,  the  misty  blue  of  their  lower  slopes, 
the  deep  sombre  green  of  spruce  and  fir  at  the  water's 
edge,  the  foaming  waterfalls,  the  majestic  silent  rivers  of 
ice  strong  with  the  strength  that  makes  and  moulds  con- 
tinents. For  hours  upon  hours,  the  steamer  glides  through 


54  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

this  wonderland,  the  fiord  growing  narrower,  picturesque 
lighthouses  and  islands  appearing  as  the  upper  end  draws 
near.  On  the  west  shore,  near  the  upper  end,  are  Haines 
and  Fort  William  Henry  Seward. 

Haines  and  Fort  Seward  are  practically  one,  a  little 
stretch  of  spruce  woods  between  the  two  being  the  only 
separation.  Haines  is  an  attractive  looking  town  and  has 
quite  a  number  of  two-story  buildings  all  neatly  painted. 
The  presence  of  paint  is  as  noticeable  here  as  is  the  ab- 
sence of  it  elsewhere.  A  long  wharf  leads  from  the  dock 
back  to  the  main  street  of  the  town  which  climbs  upward 
to  the  homes,  hotels  and  stores  of  the  little  village.  On 
the  creeks  back  of  Haines  are  mines  and  in  the  valleys 
thereabouts,  farms.  It  is  one  of  the  best  places  in  Alaska 
for  certain  agricultural  products,  notably  strawberries, 
and  its  nearness  to  Juneau  and  the  possibility  even  of 
sending  its  products  to  Seattle  promise  it  quite  an  agri- 
cultural future.  At  one  time  there  was  talk  of  a  railroad 
from  Haines  to  the  copper  and  other  mineralized  regions 
at  the  headwaters  of  the  White  River.  With  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Territory  undoubtedly  this  road  will  come, 
open  up  a  rich  section,  and  probably  be  extended  to  Fair- 
banks, bringing  to  this  interior  town  even  quicker  commu- 
nication with  the  States  than  by  the  government  railroad, 
and  enabling  the  people  of  Fairbanks  to  enjoy  such  fruits 
and  other  products  of  the  outside  as  are  too  perishable  to 
be  shipped  by  the  longer  route. 

Fort  Seward  has  the  neat,  orderly  air  of  all  military 
posts. 

It  is  but  a  few  hours'  run  to  Skagway  and  here  one 
feels  that  he  comes  more  intimately  in  touch  than  he  has 
elsewhere  with  the  trail  of  that  gold-crazed  mob  that 
poured  in  '97  and  '98  from  Seattle  northward  in  a  wild 
race  for  Dawson. 


CHAPTER   V 

SKAGWAY    AND    THE    WHITE    PASS 

Skagway  present  and  past.    Soapy  Smith  and  his  gang.    The 

AWE-INSPIRING  SCENERY  OF  THE  CANYON.  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE 
STAMPEDERS  AND  ITS  TRAGIC  STORY.  THE  BUILDING  OF  THE 
RAILROAD      THAT     CONQUERED     THE      PASS.      BEAUTIFUL     LaKE 

Bennett. 

Skagway  is,  to-day,  a  quiet  little  town  of  pretty 
homes  and  grass-grown  streets.  Its  tranquil  likeness,  ex- 
cept perhaps  for  the  curio  stores  with  their  bearskins, 
nuggets  and  carved  ivories,  can  be  found  in  many  an 
Eastern  or  Middle-West  State.  To  one  who  gazes  upon 
it  for  the  first  time,  without  knowing  its  history,  would 
come  no  inkling  of  the  turbulent  tide  of  humanity  that 
poured  through  its  streets  in  '97  and  '98  nor  of  the  trag- 
edies and  comedies  enacted  there. 

Though  situated  against  a  background  of  mountains, 
as  are  most  of  the  Alaskan  ports,  Skagway  has  quite  a 
flat  little  valley  in  which  to  spread  itself.  One  finds  here 
streets  of  good  Mother  Earth  instead  of  the  planking  al- 
most universal  elsewhere.  The  streets  run  at  right  angles 
to  each  other  and  are  clean  and  well  kept.  The  houses  sit 
back  in  pretty  yards,  and  everywhere  are  flowers,  for 
Skagway  has  been  called  the  flower  city  of  Alaska.  It  is 
no  unusual  thing  to  find  dahlias  ten  inches  in  diameter  and 
sweet  peas  nine  feet  high.  Other  flowers  grow  with  equal 
luxuriance,  a  vegetation  that  is  a  source  of  amazement 
to  those  who  still  think  of  Alaska  as  a  region  of  ice  and 
barrenness. 

55 


56  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Skagway  has  stores,  hotels,  churches,  electric  lights, 
telephones,  a  good  high  school  with  manual  training, 
domestic  science  and  a  well-equipped  gymnasium,  and  all 
the  other  comforts  of  a  modern  though  small  town.  It 
has  several  fraternal  organizations  and  is  the  home  of  the 
first  camp  of  the  Arctic  Brotherhood.  This  society  was 
founded  here  by  the  American  and  British  residents  for 
protection  against  law-breakers,  its  motto  being,  "  No 
boundary  line  here."  It  developed  into  a  fraternal  and 
social  order  with  branches  scattered  well  over  Alaska. 

Round  about  Skagway  are  many  pleasant  places  for 
side  trips.  Mt.  Dewey,  that  rears  its  white  head  nearby, 
offers  a  good  stiff  climb  to  the  hardy  mountaineer.  From 
its  top  a  beautiful  view  is  obtained  of  Skag\vay  lying  like 
a  checkerboard  below,  of  the  silvery  line  of  Lynn  Canal, 
of  the  green  canyon  stretching  off  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, of  the  railroad  winding  through  it,  and  of  the  moun- 
tains opposite. 

Denver  Glacier  makes  another  interesting  trip.  It  can 
be  reached  by  a  trail,  or  by  the  train  part  way  and  then  by 
a  walk.  The  A  B  Mountain,  so  called  because  of  the 
deep  clefts  in  its  side  which,  when  filled  with  snow,  look 
like  the  letters  A  B,  tempts  some  to  essay  its  rugged 
heights.  There  are  walks  and  waterfalls  and  little  moun- 
tain lakes  that  all  make  pleasant  outings,  and  across  the 
inlet  is  the  site  of  Dyea  which,  in  1891,  could  claim  but 
one  house,  but  which,  like  Skagway,  grew  almost  over 
night  with  the  coming  of  the  gold  seekers.  Dyea  was  the 
starting  point  of  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  that  straight-up-to- 
the-sky  climb  of  thirty-five  hundred  feet,  that  led 
over  the  mountains  into  the  interior.  Skagway's 
passage  to  the  gold  fields  was  up  through  the  White  Pass. 
Rumors  of  this  lower  pass  had  been  floating  about  for 
some  time  but  so  eager  was  each  one  to  get  to  the  gold 


Skagway  and  the  White  Pass  57 


fields  that  no  one  would  definitely  explore  it.    Some  years 
before,  Mr.  William  Ogilvie,  a  surveyor  in  charge  of  one 
of  the  expeditions  that  had  to  do  with  the  boundary  ques- 
tion, had  heard  of  a  lower  pass  than  the  Chilkoot  and  had 
sent  a  member  of  his  party  to  try  to  discover  it.     The 
Indians  who,  without  doubt,  knew  of  this  cut  through  the 
mountains  were  extremely  reluctant  to  lend  any  assistance 
but  finally  one  was  induced  to  go.    The  pass  was  found 
and  named  by  Mr.  Ogilvie  "  White  Pass  "  in  honor  of 
Thomas  White,  Canadian  Minister  of  the  Interior.    But 
at  the  time  of  Ogilvie's  discovery  there  were  few  but 
Indians  in  the  country  and  so  news  of  it  remained  practi- 
cally unknown  until  the  hardships  of  the  Chilkoot  trail 
in  the  days  of  the  gold  rush  revived  the  gossip  about  it. 
The  Chilkoot  route  crosses  a  flat  bit  of  land,  thence  up 
the  Dyea  River,  across  the  moraine  of  a  glacier  and  then 
to  the  summit  by  a  climb  so  steep  it  was  often  necessary 
to  pull  one's  self  up  by  branches  of  trees  or  anything  that 
could  be  laid  hold  of.    The  White  Pass  was  supposed  to 
be  easier,  but  when  both  passes  had  become  fairly  well 
known  opinion  was  divided  as  to  which  was  the  better. 
There  are  several  quaint  Indian  legends  as  to  the  name 
of  the  town  Skagway.     Its  site  at  the  foot  of  the  cleft 
through  the  mountains  is  subject  at  times  to  the  descent 
of  a  strong  north  wind.     This,  it  is  said,  is  the  one  un- 
pleasant feature  of  life  in  Skagway.    The  imagination  of 
the  Indians  who  of  course  suffered  from  it  before  the 
white  men  came,  wove  about  it,  as  is  their  custom,  a  fanci- 
ful interpretation,  and  so  they  tell  of  a  beautiful  Indian 
maiden  who  appeared  in  the  Indian  settlement  at  this 
point  and  who  was  adopted  by  the  tribe  and  given  the 
name  of  Skugua.     A  brave  Indian  youth  —  Indian  re- 
porters use  the  same  license  in  their  descriptions  as  do 
their  white  brethren,  for  the  maidens  are  always  beauti- 


58  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

f ul  and  the  youths  always  brave  —  fell  in  love  with  her. 
But  the  course  of  true  love  runs  no  more  smoothly  in  an 
Indian  village  than  elsewhere  and  the  two  quarrelled. 
Skugua  fled  up  the  mountain  pursued  by  her  lover,  and 
eventually,  by  the  whole  village.  But  she  was  fleet  of  foot, 
and  must  have  been  strong  of  wind,  for  she  outdistanced 
them,  and,  at  the  summit,  she  disappeared  in  the  moun- 
tains and  was  never  seen  in  the  flesh  again. 

Her  lover  mourned  so  sincerely  that  she  finally  ap- 
peared to  him  in  a  dream  and  told  him  that  if  he  would 
honor  her  memory  and  if  the  Indians  would  let  no 
stranger  come,  she  would  watch  over  him  and  them. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Indians  guarded  the  secret  of 
the  Pass  for  many  years,  and  that  when  the  bitter  north 
wind  swept  down  through  it,  they  would  exclaim,  "  Oh, 
Skugua,  have  mercy  upon  us,"  and  that  when  the  ava- 
lanche took  place  on  the  Chilkoot  trail  that  buried  many, 
they  said,  "  Skugua  is  enraged." 

But  Skagway  has  far  more  than  legend  to  draw  upon 
for  its  romance.  Its  placid  face  to-day  gives  no  hint  of 
the  passions  of  its  youth,  of  the  ambition,  the  hope,  the 
despair,  the  greed,  the  cruelty,  the  fierce  hate,  that  once 
filled  its  streets.  As  many  as  thirty  thousand  people 
came  here  during  the  gold  rush,  eagerly  asking  questions 
as  to  conditions  to  be  met  on  the  Pass,  feverishly  making 
ready  their  supplies  for  the  trip,  or  serving,  in  some  capac- 
ity, those  going,  or  preying  upon  them.  The  distraught 
confusion  and  hurry  of  those  days  is  illustrated  by  the 
unloading  of  one  of  the  boats  from  Seattle  as  told  by  a 
man  on  board.  "  The  passengers  and  their  goods  were 
put  on  a  scow  to  be  sent  ashore.  Before  the  scow  got  to 
land,  it  stuck  on  a  mud  flat.  The  people  threw  their 
things  over  in  the  wet  mud,  clambered  oflF,  and  started  to 
pack  their  goods  to  the  beach.     I  saw  by  the  high  water 


Skagway  and  the  White  Pass  59 

mark  on  the  rocks  that  when  the  tide  turned  we  would  be 
floated  in,  and  I  tried  to  restrain  some  of  the  men  from 
the  fatiguing-  and  useless  work  they  were  doing.  But 
nothing  would  stop  them.  Before  they  got  their  goods 
ashore,  the  tide  began  to  flow  back  and  many  had  their 
supplies  ruined.  But,  even  then,  they  continued  to  wade 
through  the  mud  and  water  with  their  loads  on  their  back 
instead  of  putting  the  things  on  the  scow  and  waiting." 

Another  instance  of  the  mob  mesmerism  that  ruled  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  when  news  came  to  Dyea  of  an 
easier  route  over  the  mountains,  fifteen  thousand  people 
left  the  town  and  started  pell  mell  for  Skagway  without 
waiting  to  see  if  the  report  were  true. 

A  character  of  these  days  that  looms  unpleasantly  in 
Skagway's  history  is  Soapy  Smith.  One  cannot  walk 
the  streets  of  Skagway  to-day  without  hearing  of  his 
exploits  or  seeing  his  picture  on  postcards  for  sale.  But 
he  was  not  a  resident  of  whom  Skagway  is  proud,  and 
the  wonder  to-day  is  that  he  so  long  dominated  the  town 
or  that  his  exploits  should  even  yet  hold  the  place  they  do 
in  the  public  mind. 

He  is  described  by  residents  of  Skagway  who  still 
remember  him  as  an  affable  gentleman,  "  very  much  like  a 
minister,"  which  leads  one  to  ponder  just  which  way  the 
barb  of  this  remark  is  pointed.  That  he  was  suave  and 
pleasant  in  manner,  however,  all  agree,  and  photographs 
of  him  show  a  kindliness  about  the  eyes  and  a  gracious- 
ness  of  expression  that  one  does  not  associate  with  a  crim- 
inal of  his  type.  It  may  have  been  with  him  a  gratifica- 
tion of  vanity  to  so  easily  get  the  better  of  his  fellow  men 
rather  than  any  real  pleasure  in  the  crimes  themselves  that 
was  the  incentive  of  his  conduct. 

He  had  received  the  name  "  Soapy  "  because  of  his 
facility  in  less  prosperous  days  of  seemingly  tucking  a 


60  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

five  dollar  bill  in  a  cake  of  soap  which,  of  course,  was 
minus  the  five  dollars  when  the  exultant  purchaser  un- 
wrapped it. 

In  Skagway,  however,  he  performed  no  such  common- 
place tricks.  He  controlled  a  gang  of  men  who  robbed, 
murdered  even,  at  his  bidding.  Soapy  or  a  member  of  his 
gang  would  get  acquainted  with  those  going  in  who 
looked  as  if  they  had  funds,  or  with  miners  bound  for 
the  States  who  were  injudicious  enough  to  boast  of  their 
poke.  They  would  be  invited  to  the  Information  Bureau 
he  conducted,  to  saloons  he  controlled,  or  to  any  place 
where  they  could  be  robbed.  It  was  no  unusual  thing  for 
seven  or  eight  men  at  a  time  to  be  piled  unconscious  in  a 
heap  in  a  shed  or  secluded  yard  back  of  a  saloon  or 
gambling  place  run  by  the  gang. 

Though  it  was  known  that  he  was  the  head  and  ruling 
power  of  this  lawlessness,  the  fact  was  winked  at  by  the 
citizens  of  the  town.  He  was  marshal  of  the  day  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  four  days  before  he  was  shot.  And  the 
story  is  told  that  a  clergyman  of  the  place  wishing  to 
get  subscriptions  for  some  church  work  came  to  him  for 
help.  Soapy  readily  promised  his  assistance,  gave  a  large 
sum  himself,  and  urged  others  to  do  so.  From  time  to 
time,  he  asked  the  young  clergyman  how  much  he  had 
secured  and  what  he  was  doing  with  it.  When  the  sum 
had  reached  a  satisfactory  size,  he  sent  one  of  his  men  to 
steal  it. 

The  depredations  of  the  gang  were  giving  Skagway 
such  a  bad  name  that  the  town  was  losing  business. 
People  were  going  to  or  returning  from  the  interior  by 
other  routes,  fearing  they  would  be  robbed  of  all  they 
possessed  if  they  ventured  here.  Some  of  the  citizens  de- 
cided an  end  must  be  put  to  this  lawlessness  and  organ- 
ized a  Vigilance  Committee  and  endeavored  to  oust  the 


Skagway  and  the  White  Pass  61 


band.  But  Soapy's  influence  was  too  strong  for  them  and 
the  effort  was  abandoned.  The  robbery  of  a  miner,  how- 
ever, and  his  persistent  efforts  for  redress  finally  brought 
the  matter  to  a  head.  The  Vigilance  Committee  gathered 
itself  together  again  and  decided  something  must  be 
done.  Word  was  passed  privately  about  that  a  meeting 
would  be  held  to  discuss  the  situation.  As  there  was  no 
hall  in  the  town  large  enough,  the  people  gathered  in  the 
early  evening  on  one  of  the  long  wharves  that  jutted  far 
out  into  the  water.  Frank  Reed  was  placed  at  the  en- 
trance to  prevent  any  of  Soapy's  gang  from  joining  the 
crowd  and  hearing  the  plans. 

Soapy,  of  course,  was  soon  informed  of  the  affair. 
Those  who  knew  him  said  he  must  have  been  slightly  in- 
toxicated or  he  would  not  have  undertaken  what  he  did. 
But,  getting  his  gun,  he  started  for  the  wharf,  boasting, 
"  I'll  soon  end  this."  Reed  challenged  him  and  told  him 
he  could  not  go  out  upon  the  wharf.  "  You  can't  stop 
me,"  was  Soapy's  reply,  and  raised  his  gun.  Both  men 
fired.  Smith  was  killed  instantly,  and  Reed,  mortally 
wounded,  lingered  for  about  two  weeks  and  then  passed 
away. 

Under  the  trees  of  a  little  cemetery  up  the  canyon,  the 
bodies  of  both  men  lie.  Over  Soapy  Smith's  grave  is  a 
simple  headstone  with  the  words : 

Jefferson   R.   Smith, 

Died  July  8,  1898 

Aged  38  years 

Over  Reed's  body  is  a  beautiful  granite  shaft  on  which 
is  lettered : 

Frank   H.  Reed, 

Died  July  20,  1898 

He  gave  his  life  for  the  honor  of  Skagway. 


62  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


With  the  death  of  Smith,  the  gang  scattered.  "  They 
jumped  Hke  jack  rabbits  for  the  hills,"  said  a  resident  of 
Skagway,  in  speaking  of  that  night.  None  of  his  men 
thought  of  him.  His  body  lay  on  the  wharf  till  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  when  some  women  took  it  away. 
But  his  men  were  flying  from  Skagway  by  any  trail  and 
by  no  trail.  A  messenger  was  despatched  to  the  summit 
to  let  none  pass.  Citizens  formed  themselves  into  posses 
and  searched.  About  fifteen  were  captured.  There  was 
talk  of  lynching.  One,  known  as  Slim  Jim,  who  had  been 
confined  over  a  meat  shop  and  had  escaped,  came  near 
meeting  his  fate  upon  his  recapture.  Cowboys  in  the 
crowd  who  had  secured  some  rope  constantly  twirled 
their  lariats,  and  if  the  noose  had  fallen  over  his  head, 
such  was  the  temper  of  the  crowd,  nothing  could  have 
saved  him.  But  the  better  element  who  wanted  no  more 
discredit  to  attach  to  Skagway,  would  leap  as  the  rope 
circled,  catch  it,  and  prevent  its  fall,  till  finally  hot  tem- 
pers cooled  and  the  crowd  dispersed. 

The  prisoners  were  taken  to  Juneau,  tried,  and  given 
various  sentences,  and  Skagway  entered  upon  a  life  of 
law  and  respectability. 

Many  of  the  relics  of  these  early  days,  including 
Soapy's  gambling  outfit,  are  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Harriet 
Pullen  who  has,  in  fact,  quite  a  museum  of  interesting 
curios,  and  is  as  well  a  graphic  portrayer  of  these  excit- 
ing times.  She  came  with  the  rush  of  these  early  days, 
landing  on  the  beach  with  four  small  children  and  seven 
dollars.  To-day,  she  has  the  most  unique,  most  delightful 
and  most  modern  hotel  to  be  found  in  Alaska,  a  place  that 
has  entertained  more  distinguished  men  and  women  than 
any  other  hostelry  in  the  Territory.  Indeed,  one  of  the 
most  interesting  parts  of  the  many  interesting  things  she 
has  gathered  are  the  photographs  of  her  distinguished 


Skagway  and  the  White  Pass  63 

guests  with  their  autographs.  Among  them  are  Earl  Grey, 
"  Uncle  "  Joe  Cannon,  Governor  Riggs,  the  members  of 
the  Alaska  Engineering  Commission,  Dr.  Leonard  Sug- 
don,  the  noted  Alaskan  lecturer,  the  members  of  Alaska's 
first  legislative  assembly,  James  Sheakley,  one  of  the 
early  governors  of  Alaska,  and  dozens  of  others.  For 
the  entertainment  of  her  distinguished  guests  at  the  ban- 
quets given  in  their  honor  by  the  city  of  Skagway,  she 
has  a  specially  designed  service  of  Haviland  china  that 
can  serve  one  hundred  and  fifty  people  and  special  solid 
silver  tableware. 

One  can  scarcely  expect  such  things  in  Alaska,  yet  this 
is  but  in  keeping  with  the  house  she  has  planned.  A  num- 
ber of  charming  bungalows  surround  the  main  building 
where  families  or  parties  of  friends  can  live  as  privately 
as  in  their  own  home  while  sojourning  with  her.  Almost 
every  room  in  her  establishment  has  its  bath.  One  of 
the  unique  features  of  her  table  is  that  the  fresh  milk 
which  comes  from  her  own  ranch  is  served  in  small, 
dainty,  blue-enamelled  pans  to  each  guest  and  he  can 
skim  his  own  cream  for  his  coffee  and  cereal. 

In  her  museum  are  valuable  Indian  relics,  for  she 
speaks  five  Indian  languages  and  she  has  been  taken  in 
as  a  member  by  several  tribes;  curious  hand-hammered 
copper  and  brass  vessels  from  the  Russian  occupancy  at 
Sitka;  silver  candlesticks  from  Baranof's  castle;  carved 
ivories;  wonderful  strings  of  beads,  some  hand  cut  and 
more  than  a  hundred  years  old.  Hours  can  be  spent 
delighting  in  these  odd  and  rare  and  beautiful  things 
associated  with  the  life  and  early  history  of  Alaska. 

All  this  is  the  outgrowth  of  this  remarkable  woman's 
initiative,  originality  and  resourcefulness,  and  to  hear 
her  tell  of  the  years  that  have  passed  since  she  landed 
on  the  beach,  widowed,  and  with  her  little  brood  and  her 


64  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

slim  purse,  is  like  turning  the  pages  of  a  romance.  She 
first  drove  a  four-horse  team  up  the  Pass  to  White  Pass 
City  and  freighted  in  goods  to  the  stampeders.  She 
worked  all  day  in  this  strenuous  fashion,  and  baked  apple 
pies  that  soon  became  famous,  almost  all  night.  In  this 
way  she  got  the  start  that  has  fruited  so  splendidly  to-day 
in  this  progressive  and  beautiful  establishment  that  is  the 
pride  of  Skagway.  No  one  considers  a  visit  to  Skagway 
complete  without  meeting  Mrs.  Pullen,  seeing  her  estab- 
lishment and  hearing  her  graphic  stories  of  early  days. 
The  monument  she  has  erected  and  all  it  signifies  is  as 
much  a  part  of  Alaska  as  the  scenery. 

Skagway  is  another  point  one  could  delightfully  make 
headquarters  for  a  summer  holiday,  as  there  are  many 
points  of  interest  in  the  neighborhood  to  enjoy. 

At  Skagway  begins  the  White  Pass  and  Yukon  rail- 
road, one  of  the  most  remarkable  feats  of  railroad  con- 
struction in  the  country.  It  has  conquered  the  seemingly 
unconquerable,  for  the  canyon  that  lies  ahead  in  its 
frowning,  almost  perpendicular  walls  and  its  roaring 
mountain  torrent  seems  secure  in  its  primeval  wildness 
and  ruggedness  against  all  efforts  to  subdue  it. 

When  a  railroad  was  first  projected  up  the  pass,  the 
idea  was  laughed  at.  "  You  need  a  balloon,  not  a  rail- 
road. This  is  a  job  for  an  aeronaut,  not  for  an  engineer," 
was  the  answer  of  many  to  the  group  of  men  determined 
to  put  the  project  through.  But  they  persevered,  as 
Alaskans  usually  do,  and  to-day  the  road  is  an  actuality. 

The  departure  of  the  train  is  a  friendly  affair.  It  runs 
out  Broadway,  the  main  street  of  the  town,  and  i)eople 
on  the  sidewalk  wave  farewells  and  shout  messages  to 
those  on  the  cars,  a  survival  perhaps  of  the  old-time  leave- 
taking  when  men  fared  forth  with  packs  on  their  backs 
and  friends  wished  them  good  luck. 


Skagway  and  the  White  Pass  65 

Past  the  high  school,  over  a  meandering  httle  stream 
with  neat,  stone  coping  and  golden  marsh  marigolds  shin- 
ing against  the  gray  of  the  wall  and  the  green  of  the 
grass,  across  the  Skagway  River  and  through  groves  of 
spicy,  fragrant  balsam-poplar,  the  train  speeds.  The  can- 
yon looms  ahead,  but  of  its  terrific,  awe-inspiring  gran- 
deur no  hint  is  yet  given,  all  is  so  gentle  and  beautiful  and 
bright  in  the  outskirts  of  this  little  town. 

But  soon  the  climb  begins.  The  tree  tops  drop  below 
the  eye  —  a  sea  of  green  through  which  the  river  wanders. 
Gorge  after  gorge  opens,  to  right,  to  left,  before,  behind, 
—  narrow,  walled-in,  far-reaching  spaces,  blocked  with 
snow  mountains  in  the  distance.  Back  down  the  canyon 
the  eye  follows  the  windings  of  the  Skagway  River  and 
out  over  the  blue  Lynn  Canal  to  the  snowy  range  across 
the  water. 

But  the  walls  of  the  canyon  begin  to  close,  shutting 
out  all  but  their  own  grim,  inaccessible  sides.  The  river 
roars  below  looking  as  if  it  would  tear  the  very  founda- 
tions of  the  earth  away  with  its  mad  strength.  Across 
its  seething  waters  a  faint  trail  is  occasionally  seen  wind- 
ing over  the  upended  boulders,  among  the  tangled  bushes, 
along  precipitous  slopes.  One  wonders  how  the  stam- 
peders  ever  made  their  way  for  scarcely  a  secure  foot- 
hold can  be  seen.  Sheer  desperation  must  have  goaded 
them  on.  Courage  itself  would  fail  before  such  barriers. 
When  this  trail  is  seen,  it  is  easy  to  realize  why  the  song 
of  the  little  golden-crowned  sparrow  that  flits  among  the 
bushes  was  said  to  be,  "  I'm  so  weary,"  and  why  the  bird 
was  called,  "  Weary  Willie."  The  gold  seekers  were 
hearing  in  its  voice  their  own  feelings. 

Up  and  up  the  panting  engine  climbs.  Alaska  does 
everything  on  a  big  scale  and  she  begins  her  tremendous- 
ness  right  here  at  her  threshold.     No  putting  of  words 


66  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

together  can  describe  the  terrible,  awe-inspiring  beauty  of 
this  canyon.  Terraces  of  bare  rock  rise  steeply  one  above 
another.  Bare,  jagged  peaks  tower  sharply  against  the 
blue  sky,  too  sheer  even  for  snow  to  lie  upon  them.  Now 
and  then,  the  old  trail  shows  itself,  worn  like  an  old  door- 
sill  into  the  bare  rocks  by  the  tread  of  many  feet.  Every 
little  while  a  slender,  weather-beaten  stick  held  up  by  a 
little  pile  of  stones  tells  of  one  who  found  the  struggle 
too  great  and  lay  down  by  the  trail  and  died.  The  next 
comer  mercifully  covered  the  body  as  best  he  could,  stuck 
up  the  willow  wand  to  tell  the  tragedy,  and  went  on.  Far 
down  in  the  canyon  can  still  be  seen  a  few  tumbledown 
shacks,  all  that  remains  of  White  Pass  City,  the  first 
stopping  place  in  the  days  of  the  stampeders.  From  here 
to  the  summit  is  Dead  Horse  Gulch  where  three  thousand 
horses  and  mules  died  in  three  years. 

But  the  tragedies  of  the  past  are  forgotten  in  the 
glories  of  the  present.  One  seems  to  be  riding  on  the 
crest  of  the  world.  Back  down  the  gorge,  one  looks 
straight  for  a  distance  of  twelve  miles  and  sees  Skagway 
nestling  at  its  mouth,  Lynn  Canal  beyond,  and  against  the 
sky  line  the  mistily  blue,  snow-capped  mountains.  Across 
the  canyon,  a  great  waterfall  leaps  down  three  thousand 
feet  in  a  series  of  foaming  cascades.  Bare,  bleak  peaks 
cleave  the  sky,  great  sheets  of  snow  in  their  gorges.  Cling- 
ing close  to  the  side  of  the  mountain,  a  thousand  feet  in 
the  air,  the  road  winds  around  the  head  of  a  tremendous 
gorge,  going  eight  miles  to  achieve  one.  Torrential 
streams  pour  down  the  sides.  The  snow-white  expanse 
of  glaciers  comes  into  view.  Mountain  peaks  rear  their 
heads  over  other  mountain  peaks,  a  great,  jumbled  world 
of  uplifted  snowy  crests.  Carefully  the  train  winds  on- 
ward over  ravine  and  gulches  that  leave  one  gasping  and 
dizzy  at  what  does  not  lie  beneath.    The  river  is  lost  from 


Skagway  and  the  White  Pass  67 

sight  so  far  does  it  roll  below.  A  tunnel  yawns  and  the 
train  shoots  into  darkness,  and  then  out  again  into  the 
wonderful  panorama  of  mountain  top  and  vast  dizzy 
depths.  Over  a  great  cantilever  bridge,  the  farthest  north 
bridge  of  its  kind  in  the  world,  that  spans  with  its  inter- 
laced network  of  steel  a  mighty  ravine  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  feet  high,  past  perpendicular  rocks  like  sentinel 
gateways  where  the  river  has  broken  through,  on,  breath- 
lessly up  and  up  into  a  world  of  ever  increasing  wildness 
and  grandeur,  the  train  climbs,  and  then  at  last  out  into  a 
level  breathing  space,  White  Pass,  and  the  canyon  has 
been  conquered. 

Up  and  around  and  through  it  toiled  twenty  years  ago 
the  gold  seekers,  often  with  the  temperature  far  below 
zero.  Admiration  for  them  grows  and  one  can  under- 
stand why  those  little  slender  sticks  drooping  over  their 
pile  of  stones  are  sometimes  less  than  a  yard  apart. 

The  task  of  building  such  a  road  can  scarcely  be  im- 
agined. But  the  work  went  forward  summer  and  win- 
ter. When  there  seemed  no  way  at  all  to  locate  the  grade, 
men  were  let  down  with  ropes  from  the  heights  above. 
When  great  drifts  of  snow  blocked  the  way,  they  were 
shovelled  off.  No  obstacle  was  too  great  to  be  sur- 
mounted, the  spirit  one  finds  throughout  the  Territory. 
In  the  summer,  shifts  of  men  worked  day  and  night.  One 
of  the  men  who  had  the  task  in  charge  said  that  at  one 
time  when  conditions  were  especially  serious  he  never 
sat  down  for  two  days  and  nights. 

At  the  summit,  where  one  of  the  construction  camps 
was  located,  the  ice  festoons  that  formed  in  the  dining 
tent  in  winter  from  the  steam  of  the  near-by  cooking  had 
to  be  swept  down  previous  to  each  meal,  and  then  would 
often  form  again  before  the  meal  was  over  and  drop 
pieces  of  ice  down  the  backs  of  those  eating.     The  men 


68  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

ate  with  coats,  hats  and  gloves  on,  so  cold  was  it.  But 
they  were  enthusiastic  workers,  for  the  bigness  of  the 
undertaking  had  hold  of  them  and  discomfort  weighed 
little. 

The  base  of  supplies  was  a  thousand  or  so  miles  away, 
for  everything  had  to  be  brought  from  Seattle  or  Van- 
couver. There  were  no  connecting  telegraph  lines  in  case 
extra  or  unusual  supplies  were  needed.  The  sailing  of 
steamers  was  uncertain.  Tremendous  quantities  of  sup- 
plies were  necessary.  In  one  place  a  cliff  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  high  and  seventy  feet  thick  had  to  be  blasted 
and  required  a  large  amount  of  powder.  Not  only  did 
all  these  things  have  to  be  brought  from  the  States,  but 
after  arrival  at  Skagway,  they  had  to  be  packed  up  the 
trail  to  where  the  men  were  at  work. 

Fortunately,  the  workers  were  an  unusually  intelligent 
class  of  men,  for  many  of  them  were  the  gold  seekers  who 
were  glad  to  work  in  winter  while  w^aiting  for  navigation 
to  open  into  the  interior.  Others  needed  to  replenish 
their  capital  and  found  this  a  good  opportunity.  To  be 
sure,  this  good  fortune  had  its  disadvantages,  for  when 
news  came  of  the  strike  at  Atlin,  fifteen  hundred  of  them 
threw  down  their  picks  and  shovels,  drew  their  pay,  and 
started  pell  mell  for  the  gold  fields. 

At  White  Pass,  the  summit,  British  territory  is  entered, 
and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  the  Union  Jack  fly  side 
bv  side.  It  is  a  world  of  bare  rocks  and  mountains  among 
which  lies  a  little  slender  lake,  great  in  importance  though 
small  in  size.  For  this,  it  is  claimed  by  many,  is  the  real 
source  of  the  Yukon  River,  which  rising  thus  only  about 
twenty  miles  from  the  ocean  yet  sends  its  waters  more 
than  two  thousand  miles  to  reach  it. 

The  Yukon  River  somewhat  rcseml)les  Homer  in  that 
many  places  claim  its  birth.     Summit  Lake  has  its  advo- 


Skagway  and  the  White  Pass  69 


cates.  Atlin  Lake  makes  insistent  claim.  Pelly  River 
raises  its  voice,  and  so  the  tale  goes.  But  all  are  contrib- 
uting, and  if  the  Yukon  itself  could  speak,  it  would,  no 
doubt,  point  to  the  fact  that  on  its  broad  bosom  flash  the 
waters  from  all  three  and  more. 

The  road  now  winds  by  lakelets  and  streams  with  snow 
mountains  guarding  the  horizon.  Clumps  of  dwarf 
spruce,  low  willows,  blue  lupines,  and  other  wild  flowers 
make  the  scene  one  of  gentle  beauty  and  rich  color.  Little 
grassy  swamps,  while  adding  to  the  beauty  of  the  picture, 
must  also  have  added  to  the  trials  of  the  stampeders,  and 
the  tale  of  the  willow  wands  continues.  It  is,  no  doubt, 
these  tales  of  hardship  in  the  early  days  that  still  linger  in 
memory  and  make  Alaska  seem  an  inaccessible  place.  But 
one  rides  to-day  in  comfortable  observation  cars  with  ex- 
cellent meals  provided  en  route  and  everything  done  that 
can  be  thought  of  by  courteous  officials  for  the  full  en- 
joyment of  the  trip.  The  hardships  of  the  early  days  are 
now  only  a  memory  that  add  for  the  traveller  of  to-day 
a  romantic  interest  to  the  route.  And  he  can  enjoy 
what  undoubtedly  these  pioneers  could  not,  some  of  the 
wildest  and  most  stupendous  mountain  scenery  the  world 
knows. 

Various  small  stations  are  passed ;  one,  Log  Cabin,  was 
a  favorite  stopping  place  with  the  gold  seekers,  and  in 
those  days  boasted  a  good-sized  hotel.  At  one  place  is  a 
well-filled  cemetery.  It  is  said  that  every  man  buried 
here  died  with  his  boots  on. 

Soon  Lake  Bennett,  named  for  James  Gordon  Bennett, 
is  reached,  and  the  road  winds  along  the  shores  of  this 
entrancing  sheet  of  water  for  twenty-eight  miles.  Blue 
and  green  and  violet  it  stretches,  a  wondrous  shimmering 
sheet  of  varying  color.  At  times  the  mountains  close  in, 
their  snowy  peaks  reflected  in  its  placid  waters.     Again 


70  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

the  higher  peaks  sweep  away  until  they  become  soft  blue 
outlines  in  the  distance,  and  near  at  hand  low  hills  rise, 
some  a  soft  rich  red,  thus  adding  still  another  lovely  hue 
to  the  wonderful  coloring  of  the  scene.  The  air  is  sweet 
with  the  spicy  pungence  of  the  balsam-poplar  and  the 
breath  of  the  wild  flowers  that  fringe  the  road  with  a 
border  of  blue  and  gold  and  rose.  After  the  wild,  grip- 
ping grandeur  of  the  canyon,  this  scene  with  its  gentle 
shore  lines,  its  dainty  flowers,  its  lovely  colors,  its  pure, 
clear  reflections  is  refreshingly  restful. 

But  though  so  gentle  in  its  beauty,  this  part  of  the 
road  was  one  of  the  costliest  to  construct.  Almost  every 
foot  of  the  twenty-eight  miles  had  to  be  blasted  from  solid 
rock. 

If  weird  figures  loom  in  the  distance,  one  need  not  won- 
der if,  like  Rip  Van  Winkle,  he  has  entered  a  mountain 
region  of  gnomes  and  imps.  Two  such  figures  seen  far 
down  the  track,  one  apparently  bearded  like  a  pard,  and 
with  black  hair  falling  to  his  waist,  the  other  a  good  imi- 
tation of  Father  Time,  turned  out  to  be  merely  men  wear- 
ing the  fashionable  Alaskan  headdress,  a  mosquito  net, 
one  net  being  black,  the  other,  white.  These  nets  are  a 
good  protection  during  the  mosquito  season,  which  lasts, 
it  is  said,  until  the  middle  of  July.  They  consist  of  a 
length  of  fine  mosquito  mesh  or  veiling,  falling  to  the 
shoulders  with  a  gathering  string  at  the  top  to  hold  it 
about  the  hat,  another  at  the  bottom  to  keep  it  snug  about 
the  chest,  and  a  light  wire  or  boning  in  the  centre  to  hold 
it  out  from  the  face.  All  sorts  of  fancy  nets  and  masks 
are  sold,  but  this  style  is  the  simplest  and  most  comfort- 
able. Those  who  are  merely  travelling  through  Alaska 
however,  are  not  likely  to  need  them.  They  are  only  re- 
quired by  those  who  expect  to  spend  days  in  the  open, 
and  even  then  some  people  do  not  find  the  mosquitoes 


Skagway  and  the  White  Pass  71 

"^ 

annoying.  Upon  a  camping  trip  in  this  section,  no  one 
had  occasion  to  use  nets. 

At  the  farther  end  of  Lake  Bennett  is  Carcross,  or  as 
the  Indians  have  poetically  termed  it,  Caribou  Crossing, 
because  of  the  great  herds  of  caribou  that  at  one  time 
crossed  here.  It  is  said  that  they  were  so  numerous  that 
their  horns  looked  like  a  forest.  It  took  them  two  months 
to  pass. 

The  place  is  but  a  handful  of  small  houses,  mostly  log 
cabins,  erected  here  and  there  on  a  patch  of  sand  made 
bright  by  clusters  of  wild  forget-me-not  and  baby  blue 
eyes.  But  the  primitiveness  of  the  town  is  lost  sight  of 
in  the  beauty  of  its  location,  for  the  blue  waters  of  the 
lake  spread  before  it  and  snow  mountains  encircle  the 
horizon.  At  some  little  distance  from  the  village  is  a 
native  school  and  also  a  fox  farm,  the  first  to  be  encoun- 
tered of  this  new  industry  that  is  springing  up  in  the 
Northland. 

The  principal  interest  of  Carcross  however,  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  is  the  starting  point  for  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful lake  and  mountain  trips  of  all  this  region. 


CHAPTER   VI 


BEAUTIFUL    LAKE     ATLIN 


The  unique  tbxp  to  the  little  town  of  Atlin  and  its  flower- 
jewelled  STREETS.  Motoring  to  the  mines.  Camping  at 
Llewellyn  Glaoer.  The  beauty  of  this  great  river  of 
ice  and  of  the  scenery  about  it. 

Though  not  in  Alaska  geographically  speaking,  the 
trip  to  Atlin  which  begins  here  at  Carcross  is  part  of  an 
Alaskan  itinerary  and  is  taken  by  almost  every  tourist  to 
the  Northland,  so  well  known  has  this  lake  become  for  its 
unusual  attractions.  Dawson  itself  is  not  in  Alaska,  yet 
every  one  who  goes  to  the  interior  by  way  of  the  Yukon 
not  only  wishes  to  visit  Dawson  by  reason  of  its  romantic 
history  but  also  perforce  must,  as  there  is  no  other  route  to 
travel  in  this  part  of  the  country.  There  is  no  such  com- 
pulsion at  Atlin,  since  Atlin  lies  off  the  beaten  track ;  but 
there  is  the  lure  of  a  great  mountain  lake  lying  serene 
and  placid  under  the  shadow  of  snow-capped  mountains, 
of  a  great  glacier  at  its  farther  end,  of  a  sunny,  flower- 
jewelled  little  town,  of  interesting  mining  camps,  of  the 
wild  life  of  primeval  woods  and  great  fish  leaping  in  lake 
and  stream.  For  these  reasons  most  of  the  tourists  to 
Alaska  go  to  Atlin  and  the  days  passed  under  the  spell 
of  its  enchantment  are  among  the  most  delightful  of  the 
trip  to  the  north. 

A  small  steamer  is  taken  at  Carcross  for  the  journey. 
It  is  a  stern-wheeler  and  draws  very  little  water,  and  on 

72 


Beautiful  Lake  Atlin  73 

it  one  has  the  first  of  the  picturesque  experiences  of  a 
steamer  journey  in  the  Northland  of  taking  on  wood  for 
fuel.  The  boat  though  small  is  perfectly  appointed,  a 
little  gem  of  boatcraft,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  go  over  it, 
from  the  neat,  roomy  lower  deck  where  the  freight  and 
the  wood  are  piled,  through  the  clean  engine-room  with  its 
matting  and  seats  like  a  cosy  sitting-room,  through  the 
immaculate  pantries  and  kitchen,  the  dining-room  with  its 
cheery  open  grate  and  beautiful  wood  mosaic  over  the 
mantel,  a  bit  of  artistic  work  that  is  justly  famed  in  the 
North,  to  the  comfortable  staterooms  on  the  upper  deck 
and  the  big,  roomy  pilot  house  with  its  easy  wicker  chairs 
where  the  captain  and  pilot  explain  the  points  of  interest 
and  tell  tales  of  the  early  days. 

Into  the  peaceful  waters  ahead  the  boat  glides  smoothly, 
a  slow,  gentle  breathing  being  the  only  indication  that  the 
engines  are  at  work.  Low,  green-clad  hills  rise  from  the 
shore  and  throw  darkly  beautiful  reflections  in  the  water. 
Far  in  the  distance  soar  the  encircling  snow  mountains, 
beginning  to  be  touched  with  a  rosy  Alpine  glow,  for  the 
steamers  usually  leave  Carcross  late  in  the  afternoon. 
Graceful  wooded  points  reach  out  into  the  water.  Little 
islands  try  to  block  the  way.  Golden  Gate,  Squaw  Point, 
Seabird  Isles,  the  names  run.  The  water  takes  on  a  shim- 
mering silver  blue,  the  mountains  a  rose,  the  whole  far- 
away end  of  the  lake  vista  being  blocked  with  their 
glowing  peaks.  The  glow  of  an  Indian  campfire  shines 
from  the  bank  and  the  slender  lines  of  a  canoe  are  seen  on 
the  beach,  A  golden  moon  rides  aloft,  for  though  it  is 
still  light,  it  is  ten  o'clock  and  the  moon  must  be  about 
its  business. 

The  boat  gently  glides  up  to  the  shore,  a  gang  plank  is 
thrown  across  to  the  bank,  and  sturdy  hands  are  soon 
rattling  on  the  wood  in  hand  trucks  from  the  rows  neatly 


74  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

piled  at  the  edge  of  the  water.  Passengers  go  ashore  to 
visit  the  Indian  family  whose  tents  and  glowing  fire  make 
a  picturesque  note  on  the  beach  a  short  distance  away. 

An  Indian  woman,  squatted  on  the  ground,  is  making 
moccasins,  and  two  little  Indian  children  play  about.  An 
Indian  man  sits  by  the  fire,  and  under  a  mosquito  canopy 
near  by  an  Indian  baby  regards  the  visitors  with  solemn 
black  eyes.  On  the  water  dances  a  little  toy  boat,  and  at 
notice  of  it  the  old  Indian  man's  face  lights  with  the 
pleasure  of  a  child's.  The  woods  creep  close  to  the  little 
encampment  at  the  back,  the  water  laps  in  front;  but  the 
friendly  fire,  the  playing  children,  the  frisking  of  a  puppy 
tied  to  a  log,  take  away  all  sense  of  loneliness. 

The  hour  draws  on  to  midnight  and  reluctantly  the 
passengers  go  to  bed,  for  it  is  not  dark  and  the  scene  still 
has  its  beauty  of  gentle  lines  and  lovely  color. 

In  the  morning  the  boat  is  docked  at  this  end  of  the 
water  journey  and  a  small  portage  is  made  by  train  across 
a  narrow  neck  of  land  to  the  shore  of  Lake  Atlin.  This 
train  is  unique.  It  is  an  observation  car  in  the  truest 
sense,  for  it  is  a  flat  freight  car,  open  at  one  end  and  with 
canvas  top  and  sides.  Birds  build  their  nests  in  it,  and 
it  is  said  that  when  the  young  birds  are  hatched  but  still 
in  their  nests,  and  the  train  starts,  the  old  birds  fly  in 
great  excitement  the  length  of  the  trip,  not  knowing  ex- 
actly what  is  happening  to  their  home  and  children. 

Atlin  Lake  stretches  for  eighty  miles,  a  vision  of  gran- 
deur not  to  be  equalled  elsewhere  in  the  world,  say  globe 
trotters.  In  many  places,  snow  mountains  rise  sheer  from 
the  water's  edge,  gray,  grim  walls  so  steep  nothing  can 
grow  upon  them.  Snow  lies  in  patches  in  their  gorges 
and  ravines  and  covers  their  tops  with  a  shining  mantle. 
At  other  points  the  slopes  are  gentler,  and  spruce  and  fir, 
birch  and  willow  make  a  robe  of  varying  shades  of  green. 


Beautiful  Lake  Atlin  75 


But  always  in  the  background  even  to  these  lower  hills  are 
snow  mountains,  peak  upon  peak,  not  one  great,  isolated 
crest,  but  range  upon  range  filling  the  horizon  in  every 
direction  —  snow-capped  peaks  at  hand,  snow-capped 
peaks  filling  in  the  breaks  and  gaps  between  the  nearer 
mountains.  And  when  the  water  is  smooth  the  lake  re- 
flects every  peak,  so  clearly  outlined,  so  apparently  with- 
out a  break,  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  where  the  one  begins 
and  the  other  ends.  "  Look!  Look!  "  exclaimed  a  small 
child  on  one  of  the  boats.  "  Sheep  in  the  water."  The 
passengers  gazed  in  the  direction  she  pointed,  saw  the 
reflection,  and  then  looking  upward  beheld  the  mountain 
sheep  on  a  peak  above. 

When  the  autumn  tints  turn  the  mountains  to  a  glory 
of  color  and  the  red  and  gold  and  russet  and  green  soar  to 
the  skies  and  glow  in  the  water  below,  when  all  is  capped 
of¥  with  the  shining  snow  peaks  in  the  heavens  and  in  the 
waves,  when  the  waters  of  the  lake  stretch  away  a  sheet 
of  blue,  when  the  islands  open  their  alluring  vistas  of 
winding  channels  through  this  world  of  brilliant  color,  the 
scene  is  one  of  unearthly  beauty.  It  is  little  wonder  the 
fame  of  Lake  Atlin,  its  coloring,  its  reflections,  has  spread. 

The  little  town  of  Atlin  lies  on  an  open,  level,  grassy 
meadow,  its  streets,  winding  roads  that  lead  out  into  the 
country  and  thickly  bordered  with  wild  flowers.  A  dainty 
wild  flower  said  by  some  to  be  the  wild  flax  powders  the 
ground  densely.  Lovely  bluebells  droop  their  graceful 
heads,  the  buds  being  an  exquisite  pink,  making  a  color 
combination  that  is  ravishing.  Wild  roses,  big,  fragrant, 
flaunt  their  sweet  pinkiness  everywhere,  deeper  in  color, 
larger  and  more  fragrant,  says  Burbank,  than  any  to  be 
found  elsewhere.  Golden  dandelions,  purple-blue  lupines 
add  richness  of  color  to  the  blossom  beauty  on  all  sides. 
On  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  great  beds  of  hydro-mag- 


76  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

nesite  three  to  ten  feet  thick  spread  over  the  ground, 
giving  the  effect  of  sheets  of  snow.  It  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  steel  and  for  fine  clay  for  crucibles  and 
is  being  shipped  out  for  these  purposes. 

A  stroll  through  the  Indian  village  is  interesting,  for 
though  the  Indian  village  of  to-day  is  often  a  neat  little 
town  of  frame  houses  and  not  at  all  the  collection  of  tents 
and  outdoor  living  one  expects,  it  still  has  unique  attrac- 
tion. Indian  women  are  often  to  be  seen  curing  moose 
and  deer  skins.  Bright-eyed  Indian  children  are  playing 
about.  The  Indian  dogs  offer  innumerable  studies  of 
canine  life.  And  the  old  chiefs  and  young  braves  are  seen 
at  their  usual  task  of  doing  little.  The  walk  to  the  Indian 
village  at  Atlin  can  be  continued  through  a  young  green 
wood  of  birch  and  willow  to  a  pretty  lakelet  with  a 
charming  view  of  the  surrounding  mountains.  At  the 
opposite  end  of  the  town  are  some  soda  springs.  Armed 
with  lemon  and  sugar  one  can  concoct  here  some  good 
lemon  soda  water.  The  waters  contain  traces  of  potas- 
sium, soda,  lime,  magnesia  and  a  large  amount  of  carbonic 
acid. 

Among  the  things  worth  seeing  in  Atlin  are  the  collec- 
tions of  furs  shown  by  some  of  the  trappers.  One  gets  to 
see  the  furs  here  just  as  they  are  brought  in  from  the 
wild,  and  not  only  are  the  richness  and  beauty  of  the  furs 
a  delight  to  touch  and  sight  but  one  gets  quite  au  educa- 
tion in  fur  qualities.  There  are  enormous  bear  skins  to 
be  seen,  skins  that  make  one  realize  the  truth  of  the  stories 
told  of  the  size  of  Alaska's  bears;  skins  of  wolverines;  of 
timber  wolves;  of  foxes  of  all  kinds;  of  marten,  lynx, 
beaver,  ermine;  in  fact,  of  every  animal  that  haunts  the 
Alaskan  wild.  They  are  all  beautiful  with  the  exquisite, 
soft  colorings  of  the  animal's  environment  —  the  black 
and  white  shadows  of  winter  woods,  the  powdering  of 


Beautiful  Lake  Atlin  77 

snow,  the  glow  of  warm  sunlight  —  nature's  tones  in 
many  moods  caught  and  kept  to  protect  the  animal  from 
watchful  enemies. 

One  of  the  delightful  experiences  of  a  stay  at  Atlin  is 
a  motor  ride  out  to  the  mines.  The  principal  output  at 
present  is  gold,  but  silver,  copper,  and  antimony  have  been 
found.  The  discovery  of  gold  was  made  here  in  the  rush 
of  '98  by  some  of  the  miners  on  their  way  to  the  Klondike 
and  quite  a  stampede  took  place  to  the  creeks  in  this  sec- 
tion, as  many  as  forty  thousand  people  having  flocked  in 
here  and  some  $350,000  being  taken  out.  In  fact  as  has 
been  said,  the  building  of  the  White  Pass  and  Yukon  Rail- 
road was  almost  brought  to  a  standstill  by  a  large  number 
of  its  workmen  throwing  down  their  tools  and  starting 
for  the  new  discovery.  An  old  prospector,  now  a  resi- 
dent of  Juneau,  tells  how  he  and  his  partners,  who  were 
among  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first,  to  find  gold  here, 
were  panning  on  one  of  the  creeks,  not  having  yet  filed 
their  claim  as  they  wanted  to  be  sure  they  had  found  pay- 
streak,  when  they  saw  a  small  boat  on  the  shore  of  the 
lake.  "  We're  discovered."  they  shouted  to  each  other, 
and  leaving  the  two  to  look  after  the  camp  and  the  claim, 
the  third  "  flew  "  as  he  expressed  it,  to  the  recording  office 
to  file. 

These  exciting  days,  however,  are  gone  by.  The  miners 
now  go  out  to  their  claims  in  many  cases  by  automobile. 
There  are  little  towns  along  the  way  and  much  of  the 
work  is  done  by  machinery,  crude  in  some  instances,  but 
both  time-saving  and  labor-saving. 

The  road  to  the  mines  runs  for  a  few  hundred  feet 
along  the  shore  of  the  lake,  and  the  sapphire  waters  and 
snowy  mountains  spread  a  vision  of  enchantment  before 
the  eye.  Then  it  turns,  and  by  scattered  outlying  houses 
of  the  village  the  car  spins,  the  roadside  a  sheet  of  blue 


78  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

and  pink  and  gold  of  wild  blossoms  and  the  green  of 
grass.  Soon  it  begins  to  climb  through  spruce  and  pine 
forests,  the  air  spicy  with  their  fragrance,  the  wayside 
still  embroidered  with  the  pink  and  blue  and  gold  of  the 
wild  flowers.  Backward  over  the  hilltops,  glorious  views 
are  caught  of  Atlin  Lake  and  chain  upon  chain  of  snowy 
mountains,  their  sides  and  bases  the  ineffable  tender  blue 
of  far  distances. 

The  deep,  fragrant  forest  closes  in  again,  granite  walls 
begin  to  appear,  and  soon  the  road  sweeps  along  the  edge 
of  a  canyon  where  far  below  a  mountain  torrent  foams 
over  great  rocks.  Far  ahead,  glimpses  of  it  can  be  caught 
winding  through  the  pine  woods  before  it  leaps  down 
between  canyon  walls. 

Soon  the  little  town  of  Discovery  is  reached,  a  place  of 
stores,  log  houses,  a  hotel  or  two,  and  the  primitive  cabin 
near  which  gold  was  first  found  on  this  stream.  The  ten- 
derfoot is  apt  to  wonder  why  the  name  "  Discovery  "  is 
so  prevalent  in  mining  districts,  but  the  first  find  in  a  sec- 
tion is  always  called  Discovery  and  the  other  claims  lo- 
cated from  it,  as  Number  One  above  Discovery  and  Num- 
ber Two  below  Discovery,  and  so  on. 

The  stream  broadens  here  and  the  road  winds  along 
above  it  and  over  a  bridge  and  into  a  flat  basin  between 
two  ranges  of  hills.  Many  mines  are  scattered  through 
here  which  can  be  visited  and  the  operations  seen.  A  low 
tunnel  in  which  is  laid  a  narrow  gauge  track  leads  into 
the  mine,  a  place  extremely  wet  and  muddy.  In  here  the 
men  shovel  the  pay  dirt,  a  mixture  of  soft  earth  and  cob- 
blestones large  and  small,  into  wooden  boxes  on  low 
wheels,  called  by  a  stretch  of  the  imagination,  cars.  These 
are  drawn  by  means  of  a  cable  run  by  a  water  wheel  out- 
side, over  the  little  track  out  to  the  sluice  boxes,  where 
they  are  dumped,  and  a  rushing  stream  brought  in  pipes 


Beautiful  Lake  AtUn  79 

washes  away  the  gravel  and  stones  and  leaves  the  shining 
gold  grains  on  the  riffles  to  be  taken  out  in  the  clean-up. 

It  is  hard,  wet,  muddy  work,  but  there  is  always  the 
pure,  crisp,  bracing  air,  the  sweep  of  pine  forests,  the 
great  uplifted  range  of  snow  peaks,  the  ever  luring  hope 
of  an  unexpected  "  find,"  and  as  one  of  the  miners  ex- 
pressed it,  "  Nobody  to  look  down  your  shirt  collar  while 
you  work."  It  is  this  outdoor  life,  the  freedom,  the  ex- 
pectancy, that  give  this  work  its  never-ending  fascination 
to  many. 

As  one  speeds  along,  many  stakes  of  unworked  claims 
can  be  seen,  and  abandoned  windlasses,  and  other  primi- 
tive methods  of  early  days.  In  contrast  to  these  oldtime 
hand  methods  when  buckets  of  dirt  were  drawn  up  from 
below  and  washed  out  by  hand  is  a  big,  flashing  ditch  and 
a  dredge  where  endless  buckets  wound  up  by  machinery 
bring  the  earth  and  it  is  washed  out  mechanically  by  the 
big  dredge  within. 

Surprise  Lake  is  soon  reached,  a  pretty  little  body  of 
water  about  sixteen  miles  long  and  a  mile  wide,  dammed 
up  to  make  it  more  useful  to  the  miners  down  stream. 
Mountain  peaks  rise  all  about  and  little  islands  dot  the 
waters. 

But  by  far  the  most  glorious  trip  from  Atlin  is  the  one 
to  Llewellyn  Glacier.  These  trips  are  usually  conducted 
by  Mr.  L.  C.  Read,  who  has  a  gas  launch  and  a  camp  at 
the  glacier  for  the  accommodation  of  those  going.  Mr. 
Read  is  many  things,  among  them  a  fine  musician  and  an 
art  photographer,  but  perhaps  the  greatest  compliment 
one  can  pay  him  is  to  say  he  is  a  nature  lover  of  the  type 
of  Muir  and  Burroughs.  He  is  a  New  England  man,  well 
in  his  seventies,  yet  sturdy,  hardy,  and  he  knows  almost 
every  foot  of  the  woods  and  waters  of  this  region  and 
loves  it  all,  from  the  tiniest  Alpine  flower  that  grows  at 


80  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

the  foot  of  the  glacier  to  the  towering  peaks  that  rise  to 
the  sky  at  its  source.  Not  the  least  part  of  the  pleasure  of 
this  trip  is  his  company  and  the  information  he  gives  of 
the  region,  which  with  the  stories  he  has  to  tell  of  bird 
and  beast  and  native  make  the  expedition  an  experience 
never  to  be  forgotten. 

The  launch  speeds  across  the  lake,  the  waters  a  jade 
green  in  one  place,  a  sapphire  blue  in  another,  a  deep 
purple  in  yet  another  stretch,  the  mountains  mistily 
shrouded  in  tints  of  amethyst,  their  snow  tops  shining 
above.  The  colors  at  Atlin  are  seldom  the  same,  and  at 
times  the  waters  have  all  the  hues  of  tropical  seas. 

As  the  farther  shore  is  reached,  the  boat  turns  into  a 
winding  passage  between  Goat  Island  and  the  mainland, 
and  the  deep  green  of  spruce  and  the  brighter,  more  vivid 
green  of  birch  and  alder  that  blanket  their  sides  comes 
into  view.  Islands  dot  the  water  and  little  points  sweep 
picturesquely  out,  sometimes  with  an  Indian  camp  with 
its  red  fire  glow  and  straight,  up-curling  smoke  to  add  to 
the  primeval  charm  of  the  scene.  A  startled  moose  may 
crash  away  through  the  woods  or  a  deer  come  daintily  to 
the  water's  edge  to  drink. 

Gradually  the  mountains  come  closer  and  rise  sheer  in 
some  places  several  thousand  feet.  In  a  shining,  compact 
circle  they  seem  to  hem  the  way  ahead,  their  wonderful 
reflections  gleaming  from  the  still  waters  at  their  base. 
Waterfalls  leap  down  their  sides,  and  if  the  way  is 
blocked,  in  so  lovely  a  spot  one  could  well  abide. 

But  the  channel  turns,  and  past  little  wooded  islands 
with  wild  flowers  and  grasses  nodding  from  the  shores 
the  boat  glides,  out  across  a  wide  stretch  of  water,  where 
ahead,  behind  and  on  all  sides,  mountains  rise  superbly, 
their  shining  peaks  glowing  faintly  pink  in  the  evening 
light,  then  into  a  narrow  fiord  it  speeds,  the  water  a  won- 


Beautiful  Lake  Atlin  81 

derful  jade  green,  the  walls  rising  sheer  and  gray  with 
silver  streams  flashing  down  their  sides,  and  purple  and 
gold  flowers  wherever  a  foothold  can  be  found,  on  and 
on  over  this  sheet  of  green  water  that  shows  not  a  ripple 
except  those  made  by  the  boat,  on  through  the  stillness 
broken  only  by  the  murmur  of  the  waterfalls,  still  on  and 
on  to  the  little  curving  beach  at  the  end  and  the  camp 
under  the  spruces.  It  is  midnight,  for  the  start  was  late, 
but  the  clear  north  light  is  shining  and  a  thrush  is  singing 
in  the  woods. 

Many  days  could  be  spent  here,  for  there  are  many 
trails  that  lure,  but  the  chief  trip  is  to  the  glacier.  The 
boat  takes  one  across  a  little  arm  of  the  fiord  to  a  tiny 
beach,  where  a  wee  mother  bird  in  wild  alarm  tries  to 
persuade  you  to  follow  her  even  to  her  own  destruction 
so  that  you  touch  not  the  tiny  eggs  in  their  nest  on  the 
sand.  Into  the  spicy  spruce  woods  you  plunge  by  a  nar- 
row trail  that  winds  by  tiny,  trickling  rivulets  and  over 
mossy  logs  and  by  small  lakes  with  ever  a  wealth  of  wild 
flowers  by  its  side  —  the  bluest  of  blue  forget-me-nots, 
purple-blue  lupines,  the  lovely  blue  and  pink  bluebells, 
golden  and  white  daisies,  and  other  white  and  yellow  and 
deep  red  and  lavender  blossoms  innumerable,  until  you 
come  to  a  break  in  the  woods  and  ahead  lies  the  great 
sheet  of  ice  with  magnificent  snow  peaks  guarding  it,  and 
jagged  peaks  of  bare  rocks  rising  in  it.  Stretching  in 
front  of  it  is  a  plain  of  gray  mud  and  sand  and  stones. 
through  which  a  glacial  stream  rolls  turbulently.  In  the 
warm  sand,  a  porcupine  is  taking  a  sun  bath,  and  another 
in  the  edge  of  the  woods  is  climbing  a  tree,  the  yellowish 
brown  and  darker  shadows  of  his  coat  scarcely  distin- 
guishable from  the  light  and  shade  on  the  trunk  of  the 
tree. 

Across  the  quivering  mud,   which  may  turn  into   a 


82  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

quicksand  before  you  get  back,  through  the  sand  and  over 
the  stones,  which  get  more  numerous  the  closer  the  gla- 
cier is  approached,  the  route  leads  until  at  last  you  stand 
at  the  foot  of  the  ice  wall  and  hear  the  roar  of  the  stream 
as  it  comes  from  great  ice  caves  underneath,  the  cracking 
and  breaking  of  ice,  the  rolling  and  rumbling  of  stones 
as  tiny  avalanches  start  far  up  the  heights  and  come  slid- 
ing down. 

The  front  is  scanned  for  ways  to  climb  and  at  last,  on 
one  side,  by  dint  of  scrambling,  by  clutching  of  snow  and 
ice  and  rocks  of  the  lateral  moraine,  progress  is  made, 
and  the  smoother,  upper  surface  of  the  glacier  is  reached. 
It  is  a  sight  worth  the  climb.  The  sheet  of  ice  sweeping 
upward  to  the  far  sky  line  sparkles  as  if  strewn  with 
millions  upon  millions  of  diamonds.  Every  point  of  ice 
and  snow  catches  the  light  and  flashes  its  message  of  bril- 
liant color  to  the  cloudless  blue  sky  above.  Deep  in 
crevasse  and  crevice,  tiny  streams  gurgle,  and  in  these 
depths  shine  the  most  exquisite  of  azure  tones.  Far  up 
toward  the  head  of  the  glacier,  snow  mountains  lie  se- 
rene and  shining.  Back  over  the  basin  of  the  bed  moraine 
that  has  just  been  traversed,  snow  peaks  lift  themselves 
above  the  nearer  mountains,  which  are  clothed  in  green 
and  cascaded  with  waterfalls.  A  great  cornice  of  snow 
stretches  from  one  peak  to  another,  smooth,  shining, 
making  one  long  for  wings  to  mount  and  walk  on  this 
edge  of  the  world.  Underneath  could  be  seen  with  field 
glasses  a  great  ice  cave. 

But  the  gaze  turns  back  to  the  glacier  that  here  in  soli- 
tude and  majestic  beauty  is  silently,  slowly,  surely,  cre- 
ating worlds,  making  without  turmoil  or  fret  the  conti- 
nents and  valleys  in  which  flowers  will  blossom,  fruits 
grow  and  grains  ripen  centuries  hence  for  the  benefit  of 
man. 


'4      ^ 


J  A' 


/V. 


tf^) 


Beautiful  Lake  Atlin  83 

But  however  one  would  like  to  stay  and  study  this  epic 
of  nature,  the  return  must  be  made,  and  down  its  slippery 
slopes  one  cautiously  picks  his  way  till  the  rocks  at  the 
bottom  are  reached  and  the  path  taken  back  over  the  gray 
stones  and  gray  sand  and  pasty  gray  mud.  Stones  of 
many  odd  shapes  and  sizes  and  colors  can  be  found  in 
this  moraine,  and  in  the  mud  and  sand  are  seen  the  tracks 
of  many  wild  animals.  On  this  one  trip  the  footprints  of 
a  grizzly  bear,  a  wolf,  a  moose,  the  tracks  of  several  wild 
goats,  and  those  of  other  porcupines  than  those  of  the 
early  morning  were  found. 

A  second  trip  in  this  vicinity  that  yields  a  view  unpar- 
alleled is  to  the  top  of  Bold  Bluff.  This  rises  sheer  at  the 
head  of  the  fiord  and  looks  absolutely  inaccessible.  But 
the  trail  winds  around  it  and  is  quite  practicable  even  for 
the  inexperienced  climber.  The  top  is  much  like  that  of 
Glacier  Point  in  the  Yosemite  for  one  is  straight  above  the 
fiord  and  the  camp.  But  the  view  is  far  more  wonderful. 
Ten  great  waterfalls  were  counted  pouring  down  the  sides 
of  the  opposite  mountain  which,  roughly  estimated,  is 
two  thousand  feet  high.  The  sweep  of  Llewellyn  Gla- 
cier with  its  far  snow  mountains  and  its  moraine  and 
glacial  river  fills  the  view  in  another  direction.  Two 
beautiful  shimmering  mountain  lakes  nestling  amid 
spruce-clad  hills  are  seen  on  the  third  side  while  the  fourth 
vista  is  filled  with  the  green  waters  of  the  fiord  and  the 
lines  of  its  sheer  gray  walls.  It  is  a  panorama  of  varied 
and  unusual  scenery  such  as  it  is  doubtful  if  any  other 
one  point  can  give. 


CHAPTER    VII 

on  to  dawson 
Losing  a  lake.     Miles  Canyon.    White  Horse  Rapids  and 

THEIR  TRAGEDIES  IN  GOLD  RUSH  DAYS.  WhITE  HoRSE  AND  ITS 
BUSINESS  OPENINGS.      ThE  UpPER  YuKON  AND  ITS  PICTURESQUE 

SCENERY.  Five  Finger  and  Rink  Rapids.  Fort  Selkirk. 
The  early  history  of  the  Yukon.  The  Pelly  and  Stewart 
Rivers  and  other  important  tributaries. 

At  Carcross,  where  the  train  was  left  for  the  trip  to 
AtHn,  the  journey  is  again  resumed  northward.  The 
Watson  River  winds  picturesquely  along  the  route  and 
Lewis  Lake  is  soon  reached,  a  lake,  or  the  remains  of  one, 
which  has  rather  a  unique  history.  When  the  railroad 
was  being  constructed,  it  was  found  necessary  to  lower 
the  level  of  the  lake  about  fifteen  feet.  l^^Ian  proposes  but 
other  forces  dispose.  The  lake,  when  it  once  got  started, 
w^as  not  to  be  stopped.  The  water  cut  its  way  through  the 
soil  till  the  banks  were  like  a  canyon,  and  the  level  was 
lowered  seventy-five  feet  instead  of  the  desired  fifteen. 
The  water  rushed  forth  a  veritable  Johnstown  flood. 
Fortunately,  the  country  was  not  settled  or  great  damage 
would  have  been  done. 

Many  other  small  lakes  are  passed  and  then  the  famous 
Miles  Canyon,  named  for  General  Miles,  is  reached,  the 
dread  of  early-day  gold  seekers.  The  canyon  can  be  seen 
from  the  train.  Deep  and  dark  are  the  depths  within  the 
sheer  walls  and  the  current  sweeps  through  with  terri- 
fying force.  About  in  the  centre  is  a  whirlpool,  a  basin 
nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  diameter  and  with 

84 


On  to  Dawson  85 


steep,  sloping  walls  where  the  crest  of  the  waves  must  be 
ridden  or  the  hapless  voyager  will  go  round  and  round. 
Beyond  this  the  water  plunges  ahead  with  still  greater 
swiftness  and  violence,  for  the  fall  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  canyon  is  steeper  than  at  the  beginning.  The  canyon 
safely  passed  the  danger  is  by  no  means  over,  for  the 
White  Horse  Rapids  loom  ahead,  and  the  seething  froth 
and  fury  of  this  sheet  of  water  make  the  stoutest  hearts 
quail.  At  the  lower  end,  the  banks  close  in,  making  the 
channel  narrow,  and  the  waters  swirl  and  leap  with  tre- 
mendous strength  while  hidden  rocks  add  to  the  perils 
of  navigation. 

The  White  Horse  Rapids  were  named,  it  is  said,  for  a 
Finn  drowned  here,  whom  the  Indians  called  White  Horse 
because  of  his  flaxen  hair  and  great  strength. 

Many  lives  were  lost  in  the  early  days  in  these  two 
places.  It  is  said  that  the  gold  seekers,  eager  as  they 
were  to  reach  the  gold  fields,  would  sit  around  at  the 
head  of  the  canyon  getting  their  courage  up,  then  take  a 
few  drinks  and  start.  At  one  place  in  the  rapids  is  a  large 
rock  over  which  the  waters  boil.  It  is  said  that  at  the 
sight  of  this  those  furiously  chewing  tobacco  to  keep  up 
their  nerve  swallowed  their  nerve  tonic  at  one  gulp. 

Numerous  stories  are  told  of  the  experiences  of  these 
early  days.  Once  a  boat  was  seen  whirling  down  appar- 
ently unoccupied,  but  while  the  watchers  gazed,  a  man 
was  seen  to  sit  up  and  take  a  look.  He  had  tied  his  boat 
as  he  thought  securely  and  gone  to  sleep.  But  it  had 
broken  loose  and  started  on  its  perilous  voyage.  When 
its  owner  saw  where  he  was,  he  lay  down  in  the  bottom  of 
the  craft  and  gave  himself  up  for  lost.  But  the  boat 
went  through  all  right.  Another  voyager,  who  had 
worked  day  and  night  and  saved  every  penny  possible  to 
get  his  outfit,  was  wrecked  and  lost  all.     Courageously 


86  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

he  went  back  to  the  task  of  earning  another  stake.  Again 
he  set  forth  and  met  with  the  same  mishap,  managing  to 
save  his  Hfe  but  nothing  else.  Again  he  set  himself  to 
the  task  of  earning  and  saving  and  the  third  time 
ventured  the  rapids  that  had  robbed  him  without  mercy. 
Again  his  boat  and  all  his  goods  went  beneath  the  waves. 
Finally  he  reached  the  bank,  got  a  rude  board,  lettered  it, 
"  Hell  can't  be  any  worse  than  this.  I'll  take  a  chance," 
and  committed  suicide. 

Before  the  days  of  the  gold  seekers,  it  is  said  that 
scarcely  a  dozen  men  had  passed  through  the  canyon  and 
rapids  and  lived  to  tell  the  tale.  But  nothing  could  stop 
this  intrepid  host.  Into  the  yawning  jaws  of  the  canyon 
they  sailed,  rode  the  whirlpool,  rushed  through  the  lower 
end,  swept  out  into  the  first  swirl  of  the  rapids,  dashed 
on  into  their  white,  seething  fury,  and  landed  wet  and 
breathless  on  the  bank  below,  or  gave  their  lives  to  the 
clutch  of  the  chaotic  waters. 

So  many  lives  were  lost  that  finally  the  Northwest 
Mounted  Police,  which  did  such  admirable  work  all 
through  these  days,  took  the  matter  in  hand,  appointed 
pilots,  permitted  no  boat  to  go  through  unless  properly 
piloted,  and  forbade  women  passengers. 

Another  measure  of  safety  was  taken  by  the  building  of 
a  tramway  around  the  rapids.  It  was  a  primitive  affair, 
the  rails  being  made  of  poles  and  the  cars  merely  box 
trucks  mounted  on  grooved  wheels.  The  ties  were  at 
intervals  of  from  three  to  ten  feet  as  convenient,  and  the 
rails  were  spiked  to  them  as  inconsequentially.  Occa- 
sionally on  sharp  curves,  the  outside  rail  was  faced  with 
iron  plates.  The  cars  were  pulled  by  horses.  The  track 
wound  through  ravines,  over  gravel  ridges,  and  here  and 
there  out  to  the  banks  of  the  rapids.  Its  path  through  the 
woods  can  still  be  seen  as  well  as  here  and  there  some  of 


On  to  Dawson  87 


the  old  rails.  Primitive  as  it  was,  it  saved  many  lives  and 
outfits. 

To-day,  however,  the  passengers  in  comfortable  cars 
view  the  canyon  from  the  train  and  take  an  automobile 
out  to  the  rapids.  The  thrill  of  adventure  remains  only 
in  story. 

White  Horse  is  a  pleasant  little  town  backed  with  high 
bluffs  and  with  the  river  in  front.  The  streets  are  broad 
and  clean.  There  are  a  number  of  good  stores,  several 
hotels  and  churches,  and  the  barracks  of  the  Northwest 
Mounted  Police,  neat  buildings,  many  of  them  of  log,  set 
in  a  level,  grassy  space  with  flowers  and  paths  bordered 
with  whitewashed  stones  to  lend  a  homelike  air. 

The  Royal  Northwest  Mounted  Police,  to  give  them 
their  full  title,  is  an  association  known  the  world  over  for 
the  reign  of  law  and  order  it  establishes  wherever  it  goes. 
In  fact,  so  famous  is  it  for  bringing  law  breakers  to  jus- 
tice that  they  are  careful  to  keep  away  from  its  realm.  In 
the  early  days  of  the  gold  rush,  it  won  wide  renown  for 
the  way  it  handled  the  crowd  that  poured  over  the  moun- 
tains into  British  Territory.  Where,  on  the  American 
side,  all  was  confusion,  the  moment  the  boundary  was 
crossed,  all  was  system.  In  those  days,  and  the  practice 
is  still  adhered  to,  a  register  was  kept  of  all  persons  start- 
ing for  Dawson  with  a  description  of  them  and  of  their 
outfits  and  the  name  and  address  of  the  nearest  relative. 
Copies  were  forwarded  to  Dawson.  Upon  the  arrival  of 
the  newcomers  at  Dawson,  they  had  to  register,  and  those 
who  did  not  register  within  a  certain  time  were  looked 
up.  In  Dawson  during  all  its  turmoil,  there  was  little 
lawlessness  in  the  way  of  theft  and  murder.  In  thirteen 
years  there  have  been  but  twelve  murders  and  every  mur- 
derer was  convicted  and  executed  except  one  who  died 
before  the  date  set  for  his  hanging. 


88  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


Although  one  begins  to  feel  that  he  is  touching  the 
edge  of  the  Far  North  here  at  White  Horse,  for  here  the 
trip  down  that  river  of  the  North  par  excellence,  the 
Yukon,  begins,  he  is  about  in  the  same  latitude  as  Petro- 
grad,  which  is  not  thought  of  as  being  out  of  civilization 
—  geographically. 

Many  mining  interests  centre  around  White  Horse,  for 
it  is  in  a  good  mineral  belt,  but  actual  operations  languish 
owing  to  the  cost  of  getting  in  supplies.  Mining  experts 
have  pronounced  the  copper  belt  here  to  be  one  of  the 
largest  mineral  deposits  on  the  American  continent. 
Immediately  to  the  west  of  the  town  is  a  copper  belt 
fourteen  miles  long.  Where  work  has  been  done,  rich 
and  large  bodies  of  copper  have  been  exposed.  One  work- 
ing shows  a  body  of  ore,  thirty  feet  wide,  five  feet  of 
which  carry  ten  per  cent  copper  while  the  balance  shows 
four  per  cent  together  with  good  values  of  gold  and  silver. 
Another  mine  produced  thirty  thousand  tons  of  six  per 
cent  ore  in  the  first  fifty  feet. 

Silver  has  also  been  discovered,  one  prospect  showing 
leads  varying  from  one  to  seven  feet,  and  carrying  from 
fifty  to  three  thousand  ounces  to  the  ton.  These  leads  run 
for  thousands  of  feet. 

Coal  is  another  product  of  this  district,  and  not  far 
away  is  the  water  power  of  the  White  Horse  Rapids 
which  can  be  harnessed  to  help  work  all  these  deposits. 
With  the  development  of  the  country  and  lowered  cost  of 
transportation  this  will,  no  doubt,  one  day  be  a  great 
centre  of  mining,  smelting  and  allied  industries. 

It  is  doubtful  if  many  can  stand  on  the  deck  of  one  of 
the  fiat-l.)ottomcd,  stcrn-wheclcd  boats  that  ply  down  the 
Yukon  and  not  feel  a  thrill  as  it  glides  out  of  its  dock  at 
White  Ilf^rsc  for  the  trij)  down  this  great  river  of  the 
North.     The  experience  is  akin  to  that  first  slow  quiver  of 


On  to  Dawson  89 


the  Atlantic  liner  that  tells  one  he  is  actually  off  on  that 
first  momentous  trip  to  Europe.  The  setting  is  vastly 
different,  the  boats  are  different,  the  passengers  are  dif- 
ferent; but  the  two  events  are  apt  to  stand  out  as  two  of 
the  thrilling  moments  in  one's  life,  for  in  each,  one  is 
sailing  into  such  new,  strange,  but  long  anticipated  worlds. 

The  trip  down  the  Yukon  is  unique  in  many  ways.  The 
wild,  untamed  beauty,  the  sense  of  plunging  into  the 
primeval,  grips  the  imagination  and  the  heart.  One  comes 
to  feel  a  love  for  this  great  river  and  the  vast  stretches  of 
wilderness  that  border  it,  a  love  that  takes  hold  of  one 
and  never  lets  go  its  grasp.  One  may  never  return,  but 
one  never  forgets  that  great,  swiftly  flowing  stream  and 
its  wooded  shores  that  stretch  for  thousands  of  miles  with 
only  a  lonely  log  cabin  here  and  there  to  break  the  soli- 
tude, or  a  little  group  of  log  houses  clinging  together  in 
friendly  fashion  on  the  bank,  tiny  outposts  of  civilization 
on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness.  The  vastness,  the  lone- 
liness, the  silence  take  hold  of  one  and  weave  a  mantle  of 
fascination  that  wraps  one  round  about  and  sets  him  to 
dreaming. 

Then,  too,  the  trip  is  unusually  restful.  The  steamers 
are  modern  and  thoroughly  comfortable.  An  observation 
room  forward  with  big,  easy  chairs  enables  one  to  view 
the  scenery  at  ease  and  sheltered  from  wind  and  sun.  The 
table  is  excellent.  Indeed,  it  is  a  cause  of  comment  that 
such  variety  of  delicious  food  can  be  served  so  far  from 
the  base  of  supplies.  Fresh  fruits,  salads  and  such  deli- 
cacies are  on  the  menu.  The  creature  comforts  thus  pro- 
vided, one  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  enjoy  the  strange 
scene  that  slips  like  a  panorama  before  his  eyes. 

The  boats  usually  leave  White  Horse  in  the  evening, 
but,  as  the  hymn  says,  "  There  is  no  night  there,"  so  the 
hour  of  departure  makes  little  difference  in  the  enjoyment 


90  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

of  the  scene.  In  Alaska  in  summer  the  clocks  might  as 
well  take  a  vacation  for  one  pays  little  attention  to  them. 
One  can  read  as  easily  at  midnight  as  at  noon,  and  one 
seldom  goes  to  bed  until  one  or  two  o'clock.  Yet  there  is 
little  sense  of  fatigue  or  sleepiness,  which  perhaps  proves 
that  these  things  are,  after  all,  only  matters  of  habit. 

The  boat  slips  from  its  dock  almost  without  motion 
and  without  noise,  the  only  sound  indicative  that  the 
engines  are  at  work  being  that  same  soft,  gentle  breath- 
ing that  one  heard  on  the  steamers  for  Atlin.  Forward 
into  a  broad,  round  basin  the  steamer  glides  and  then 
turns  and  heads  down  the  river  on  a  pathway  of  gold  into 
the  setting  sun.  The  "  bone-yard  "  where  unused  and  dis- 
abled boats  are  kept  is  passed.  Among  them  is  the  first 
steamer  on  the  Yukon  and  also  a  boat  that  came  through 
Miles  Canyon  and  the  White  Horse  Rapids.  Beyond  this 
is  an  Indian  reservation  and  its  homes,  and  then  nothing 
lies  ahead  but  the  sky  glowing  with  purple  and  rose  and 
gold  and  the  water  shimmering  with  the  same  lovely  hues. 
High,  cut  banks  hem  the  river  in,  a  pale  putty  color  in 
tone,  and  straight  and  sheer  like  palisades,  their  tops 
fringed  with  slender,  spire-shaped  spruce  that  is  delicately 
reflected  in  the  water,  making  a  border  of  dark  shadows 
and  a  trembling  tracery  of  green  for  the  rose  and  gold 
tints  of  the  channel.  These  high,  cut  banks  add  a  peculiar 
note  to  the  scenery  and  play  an  important  part  in  the 
unique  charm  of  the  Yukon. 

The  channel  is  as  varying  as  a  coquette's  moods.  It 
broadens,  it  narrows,  it  turns  sharply  around  high  bluffs, 
it  runs  primly  ahead  as  if  it  would  never  again  turn  from 
a  straight  and  narrow  way.  The  boat,  too,  seems  to 
have  peculiar  and  varying  methods  of  travel.  It  seems 
to  be  swiftly  drifting  straight  into  the  .shore,  but  at  the 
psychological  moment  it  turns,  and  ai)parcntly  as  lielp- 


On  to  Dawson  91 


lessly  drifts  to  the  other  bank.  But  there  is  a  keen  eye 
and  a  strong  hand  at  the  wheel,  and  the  boat  is  being 
guided  surely  and  safely  though  it  seems  to  be  zigzagging 
at  will  down  the  turbulent  current.  Piloting  a  Yukon  boat 
is  no  easy  task.  In  many  places  the  channel  is  narrow 
and  tortuous,  and  it  changes  constantly.  Bars  are  formed, 
old  channels  filled,  new  channels  made.  One  almost  has 
to  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  water  as  it  ripples  over  bars 
and  mud  banks  or  glides  silently  through  the  deep  places. 
But  the  captains  on  these  boats  are  men  who  have  sailed 
the  Yukon  many  years,  and  they  know  its  ways  and 
speech,  and  the  strange  movements  of  the  boat  are  but  its 
response  to  their  guiding  hand. 

At  times  the  high,  cut  banks  disappear  for  a  brief  while 
and  in  their  place  are  low,  flat  shores  brightly  green  with 
grass  and  alders  and  willows,  and  glowing  with  fireweed 
and  other  wild  flowers.  Distant  mountains  appear,  some 
with  patches  of  snow.  Flocks  of  wild  duck  spring  up 
and  hurry  away  on  fluttering  wings.  The  colors  of  sky 
and  water  deepen.  One  is  not  sailing  on  an  ordinary 
stream,  but  over  rose-tinted  snow  peaks,  and  green  trees, 
and  shimmering  stretches  of  faint  amethyst  and  deep 
blue  and  gold. 

Then  the  cut  banks  appear  again  with  patches  of  vol- 
canic ash  showing  faintly  white.  The  glowing  colors 
fade  and  the  world  becomes  a  place  of  silver  water  and 
black  shadows,  and  the  boat  sweeps  out  into  Lake  Le- 
barge,  a  great,  placid  sheet  of  water  hemmed  in  with  hills 
sweeping  up  at  times  into  good  sized  mountains,  then 
dropping  to  low,  rounded  summits  giving  a  beautiful 
shore  line.  The  lake  was  named  for  Michael  Le  Barge  of 
Montreal,  Canada,  a  member  of  the  exploring  party  sent 
by  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  to  find  a  prac- 
ticable route  for  a  telegraph  line  across  Bering  Strait  and 


92  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


to  the  west  of  Europe.  This  party  did  not  reach  this  sec- 
tion of  the  country  as  their  work  was  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Yukon  and  on  its  lower  reaches.  But  Le  Barge  heard  of 
this  lake  and  described  it  to  others  so  glowingly  that  it 
was  called  Le  Barge's  Lake. 

From  the  lake  the  course  lies  through  Thirtymile 
River,  a  narrow,  tortuous  channel,  more  dangerous,  it  was 
said,  to  the  crafts  of  the  gold  seekers  than  either  Miles 
Canyon  or  the  White  Horse  Rapids.  It  is  full  of  sunken 
rocks  and  reefs,  gravel  bars  and  upstanding  rocks,  and  the 
current  is  swift.  But  the  Yukon  boats  navigate  it  now 
with  little  trouble  and  then  come  broader  and  more  peace- 
ful stretches  as  other  streams  pour  in  their  waters. 

The  first  of  these  tributaries  is  the  Teslin,  Hootalinqua 
or  Hootalinkwa,  as  it  is  variously  named  and  spelled. 
This  river  drains  Lake  Teslin  and  in  the  days  of  the  stam- 
peders  was  one  of  the  routes  to  the  Klondike  being 
reached  by  way  of  the  Stikine  River  at  Wrangell.  The 
name  is  an  Indian  name  meaning  "  big  fish,"  as  these  are 
found  plentifully  in  its  waters. 

Beyond  the  junction  with  the  Teslin  River,  Cassiar  Bar 
is  passed,  where  may  be  said  was  practically  the  beginning 
of  gold  mining  on  the  Yukon,  for  placer  mining  was  done 
here  in  the  '80's.  Big  Salmon,  a  cluster  of  log  houses,  is 
reached,  the  mail  tossed  ashore,  and  the  latest  news 
shouted.  The  dogs  rush  to  the  river  bank  at  the  sound  of 
the  steamer's  whistle  and  watch  anxiously  to  see  if  any- 
thing will  be  given  them. 

The  individual  to  most  eagerly  await  the  Yukon  boat 
is  by  far  the  Yukon  dog.  At  the  sound  of  the  whistle, 
he  appears  running  at  full  speed.  In  fact,  some  run  so 
furiously  they  are  unable  to  check  themselves  on  the 
edee  of  the  bank  and  turn  a  somersault  into  llie  water. 
But  it  only  lands  them  there  ahead  of  the  others,  so  they 


On  to  Dawson  93 


do  not  mind.  Far  down  the  bank  into  the  water,  and 
along  the  narrow  strip  of  mud,  they  crowd,  their  faces  a 
picture  of  eagerness  and  anxiety.  Up  and  down  the 
length  of  the  boat  they  range,  their  eyes  on  its  side,  every 
glance  full  of  heartrending  expectancy.  "  Is  it  possible," 
they  seem  to  say  as  the  boat  moves  off  and  nothing  has 
been  tossed  them,  "  that  you  are  actually  going  without 
giving  us  anything  ?  "  The  hardest-hearted  cook  is  apt 
to  relent  and  something  is  thrown  from  the  galley  win- 
dows. 

A  landmark  on  this  part  of  the  river  is  Eagle  Nest  Rock, 
a  great  bare  rock  almost  fifteen  hundred  feet  high,  where 
eagles  nest.  Cavities  are  seen  in  its  side  that  look  like 
entrances  to  mines. 

Another  bluff  that  soon  looms  up  is  the  Tantalus,  so 
named  by  the  early  traders  and  miners  because  of  the 
way  it  had  of  appearing  and  reappearing,  by  reason  of  the 
windings  of  the  river,  without  apparently  ever  becoming 
any  nearer.  Coal  was  discovered  near  here  and  a  coal 
mine  opened  and  the  name  given  to  the  mine.  Several  dis- 
coveries of  coal  have  been  made  hereabouts,  all  showing 
prospects  of  large  deposits.  The  first  discoverer  is  said 
to  have  been  George  Carmack  to  whom  is  credited  the 
discovery  of  gold  on  the  Klondike.  Large  companies, 
however,  have  taken  over  the  mining.  The  coal  in  this 
neighborhood  is  estimated  to  be  enough  to  run  every 
steamer,  power  plant  and  heating  plant  in  Dawson  for 
many  years  and  could  be  delivered  there  for  five  dollars 
a  ton.  A  plentiful  supply  of  coal  at  low  cost  would  mean 
much  to  the  development  of  all  this  section,  and  if  the 
mines  are  ever  worked  to  their  capacity  will  be  a  big 
factor  in  the  development  of  the  country. 

Every  little  while  the  high,  cut  banks  reappear  and  one 
seems  riding  through  continuous  palisades  that  give  a 


94  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

solemn,  almost  austere,  grandeur  to  the  scene.  Some- 
times they  slant  upward  with  the  smoothness  and  evenness 
of  a  railroad  embankment,  their  top  as  level  as  if  laid 
with  shining  steel.  Again,  when  the  face  is  steep  and 
perpendicular,  it  will  be  broken  with  round,  knoblike  pro- 
jections clothed  with  grass.  The  river  is  continuously 
eating  underneath  these  soft  banks  and  earth  and  grass 
and  vegetation  fall  in.  It  is  this  that  constantly  changes 
the  channel  of  the  river  and  fills  it  with  drifting  trees  and 
with  mud.  In  the  spring,  when  the  water  is  high  and  the 
current  especially  strong,  it  sweeps  away  the  bank  for 
miles,  carrying  log  houses,  even  small  settlements  with  it. 
All  along  the  river  can  be  seen  these  wrecked  houses  and 
little  towns.  And  those  that  are  left  in  the  light  of  what 
has  happened  look  perilously  near  the  shore. 

The  next  point  of  interest  is  the  Five  Finger  Rapids, 
and  every  one  crowds  forward  to  watch  the  passage 
through  this  narrow  and  famous  channel.  The  walls  of 
the  river  rise  sheer  and  steep.  A  big  rock  in  the  middle 
disputes  the  way  while  islands  ahead  make  the  scene  one 
of  unusual  beauty.  The  current  is  swift  and  the  boat 
swings  in,  looking  as  if  headed  straight  for  the  rock. 
But  just  as  a  crash  seems  inevitable,  it  turns,  swings  to 
the  other  side,  and  in  a  few  seconds  is  out  in  the  water 
beyond.  In  about  twenty  minutes  Rink  Rapids  appear 
and  the  boat  shoots  over  the  foaming  waters  looking  as 
if  sliding  down  grade.  The  name  Rink  as  applied  to 
these  second  rapids  always  arouses  curiosity  and  the  boat 
officials  when  asked  for  an  explanation  say  that  the  waters 
make  a  sound  like  the  noise  of  a  skating  rink.  But  those 
who  have  delved  into  the  early  history  of  the  river  state 
that  the  name  was  given  originally  to  the  Five  Finger 
Rapids  in  honor  of  Doctor  Henry  Rink,  an  authority  on 
Greenland,  any  name  connected  with  ice  and  snow  evi- 


On  to  Dawson  95 


dently  being  thought  appropriate  for  this  section.  Later 
when  these  rapids  became  generally  known  as  the  Five 
Finger,  the  name  was  moved  down  the  river  to  the  next 
stretch  that  needed  christening. 

When  the  discovery  of  gold  on  the  Klondike  brought 
people  by  the  thousands  and  steamers  were  put  on  the 
river  to  carry  the  crowds,  the  methods  of  coming  up 
stream  were  sometimes  unique.  When  the  current  is 
strong,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  get  a  steamer  up  over  these 
rapids.  At  present,  cables  attached  to  the  shore  are  used. 
But  these  were  not  then  thought  of  or  else  time  was  too 
precious.  One  captain  managed  it  by  arranging  with  his 
l"!issengers  that  when  he  blew  one  whistle,  they  were  all 
to  run  aft  which  would  raise  the  bow  sufihciently  to  get 
the  boat  up  the  rise  of  two  feet  of  the  rapids,  that  when 
he  was  half  way  over  the  stretch  and  blew  two  whistles 
they  were  all  to  run  forward,  which  balanced  the  vessel 
like  a  seesaw  and  thus  he  got  by. 

Beyond  the  Rink  Rapids  the  scenery  grows  wilder,  the 
cut  banks  rising  sheer  and  steep,  islands  appearing,  the 
river  breaking  into  many  channels,  rugged  mountains 
crowning  the  distance.  The  patches  of  volcanic  ash  ap- 
pear again,  and  it  is  said  that  sometimes  the  steamers 
stop  and  get  their  supply  of  scouring  material  for  the 
silver.  Alaska  is  extremely  helpful.  She  provides  boun- 
tifully for  all  needs  whether  it  is  gold  to  buy  table  service 
or  material  to  clean  it. 

Yukon  Crossing,  the  next  stopping  place,  shows  the 
effect  of  the  disastrous  spring  floods  and  the  breaking  up 
of  the  ice.  An  ice  jam  below  the  town  raised  the  water 
twenty  feet  and  swept  away  houses,  drowned  horses,  and 
otherwise  did  much  damage. 

The  names  of  these  settlements  are  often  their  most 
important  characteristic.     One  will  be  looking  for  some 


96  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

semblance  of  a  city,  or,  at  least,  a  good-sized  town.  But 
all  that  appears  is  a  handful  of  log  cabins  on  the  bank  with 
grass  and  trees  all  about  and  no  attempt  at  streets.  They 
fit  their  setting  however  and  are  far  more  attractive  than 
would  be  an  attempt  at  a  modern  town.  The  boat  runs  up 
along  the  bank,  a  gang  plank  is  thrown  ashore,  supplies 
and  mail  taken  off,  and  the  boat  is  away. 

Minto,  some  miles  below  Yukon  Crossing,  is  a  station 
on  the  winter  trail  between  White  Horse  and  Dawson, 
and  has  a  big,  log  roadhouse  and  also  a  station  of  the 
Mounted  Police.  The  winter  stage  road  can  be  seen  wind- 
ing over  the  hills. 

Below  this  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano  is  seen  and 
the  banks  show  signs  of  volcanic  rock.  Then  the  waters 
of  the  Pelly  River  come  in,  Fort  Selkirk  appears,  and  the 
river  without  further  questioning  takes  its  name  of  the 
Yukon. 

This  name  is  said  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Indian  word, 
"  Yukonna,"  which  though  generally  translated  "  Big 
river  "  has  a  meaning  greater  than  this  in  the  Indian 
thought.  It  is  as  if  they  meant,  The  River,  as  if  all  other 
rivers  sank  into  insignificance  beside  it.  The  name  is 
one  of  those  words  whose  fine  flavor  cannot  be  carried 
into  another  language. 

The  Yukon  here  begins  to  get  its  first  historic  interest. 
Down  the  Pelly  in  1842  came  Robert  Campbell,  factor  of 
the  Iludson  Bay  Company.  This  company  whose  head- 
quarters were  in  Montreal  had  gradually  pushed  their 
trading  posts  farther  and  farther  west  into  the  wilderness, 
and  Campbell,  who  had  been  exploring  in  the  Mackenzie 
and  Liard  River  regions  with  instructions  to  cross  the 
divide  in  search  of  any  river  flowing  to  the  westward, 
struck  across  country  until  he  came  upon  a  stream  he 
named  the  Pelly,  in  honor  of  Sir  H.  I'elly,  governor  of 


On  to  Dawson  97 


the  company,  and  he  floated  down  this  in  a  birch  canoe  to 
the  Yukon.  He  did  not  know  the  river  by  this  name  but 
called  it  the  Lewes,  in  honor  of  the  chief  factor  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  a  name  still  used  by  some  for  this 
part  of  the  river. 

These  various  names  given  the  upper  stretches  of  the 
Yukon  are  puzzling  to  many  travellers.  At  White  Horse, 
the  river  is  sometimes  called  the  Fiftymile,  below  Lake 
Lebarge  for  a  short  stretch,  the  Thirtymile,  thence  to  the 
junction  with  the  Pelly,  the  Lewes.  But  gradually  the 
name  Yukon  is  superseding  these,  and  without  doubt  in 
time  will  be  applied  to  the  whole  course  of  the  stream 
from  White  Horse  down. 

None  of  these  early  explorers  and  traders  on  the  upper 
Yukon  knew  it  was  the  stream  at  whose  mouth  the  Rus- 
sians had  built  Redoubt  St.  Michael.  In  those  days  it  was 
believed  that  the  Yukon  emptied  into  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
the  Colville  River  being  thought  to  be  the  same  stream. 

Campbell  decided  that  the  junction  of  the  two  streams 
was  a  good  place  for  a  trading  post  and  as  soon  as  he 
could  get  supplies  from  Montreal,  which  was  no  easy  task 
since  they  must  come  overland  through  the  wilderness, 
he  established  a  fort.  While  waiting,  he  went  on  down 
the  stream  on  an  exploring  trip  to  Fort  Yukon,  a  post  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company  farther  down. 

But  the  post  Campbell  established  was  not  left  undis- 
turbed. The  Chilkat  Indians  of  the  coast,  who  found 
their  trade  dropping  off  with  the  Indians  of  the  interior, 
the  Stick  Indians  as  they  were  called  because  they  came 
from  a  region  of  sticks  as  compared  with  the  big  timber 
of  the  Chilkat  country,  decided  to  investigate.  They  dis- 
covered the  fort,  soon  learned  the  reason  why  they  were 
getting  no  more  furs,  and  fell  upon  the  place  and  de- 
stroyed it.      Campbell  escaped,  made  himself  a  raft  of 


98  Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

driftwood  bound  together  with  withes  cut  with  his  jack- 
knife  and  floated  down  the  Yukon  until  he  met  a  party  of 
his  own  traders.  He  secured  supphes  from  them  and  set 
out  across  the  wilderness  for  the  East,  being  anxious  to 
get  permission  to  rebuild  the  fort.  But  though  he  finally 
carried  his  request  to  London,  his  wish  was  not  granted 
and  Fort  Selkirk  or  what  remained  of  it  was  abandoned. 
This  remarkable  journey  from  Fort  Selkirk  to  London, 
a  distance  of  ninety-seven  hundred  miles,  more  than  three 
thousand  of  which  he  travelled  on  snowshoes  in  the  dead 
of  winter  through  practically  an  uninhabited  wilderness, 
shows  the  mettle  of  the  man,  and  is  but  one  of  many 
similar  records  of  which  this  North  country  abounds. 

Near  the  site  of  this  old  fort,  the  present  settlement  of 
Fort  Selkirk  is  located,  Arthur  Harper,  a  trader  whose 
name  is  associated  with  activities  along  the  Yukon  in  the 
gold  mining  days,  having  established  a  post  here  when 
miners  began  to  come  into  this  section.  It  is  the  most 
pretentious  settlement  on  the  river  since  White  Horse. 
Quite  a  number  of  houses  are  scattered  along  the  bank  and 
there  is  a  school  house  and  a  general  store.  Indians  stand 
in  groups  impassively  watching  the  boat,  one  young  girl 
making  one  think  of  a  shy,  wild  bird,  so  sweet  is  she  in 
her  modest  grace  and  charm. 

A  miner  left  the  steamer  here  with  his  outfit  for  a 
three  hundred  mile  trip  up  the  Pelly  in  a  poling  l)oat. 
Much  of  the  pleasure  of  a  trip  on  the  Yukon  is  the  meet- 
ing with  these  hardy  pioneers  and  hearing  their  expe- 
riences. To  see  them  trudge  hopefully  away  with  their 
pack  on  their  back,  or  start  in  some  little  boat  for  a  trip 
up  some  lonely  river  is  to  get  a  glimpse  of  a  kind  of  life  in 
striking  contrast  to  that  of  the  steamer. 

The  Pelly  down  which  Campbell  came  and  up  which 
this  miner  went  is  a  beautiful  river  meandering  in  grace- 


On  to  Dawson  99 


ful  curves  through  a  broad  valley.  It  has  many  long, 
smooth,  hard  gravel  bars,  and  high  banks  carved  into 
turrets  and  pillars  and  other  graceful  forms.  Here  and 
there  it  plunges  through  canyons  and  always  in  the  back- 
ground are  the  towering  mountains.  In  the  valley  of  this 
river  now  are  farms:  one  of  a  hundred  acres  supplies 
oats  and  native  hay  to  the  roadhouses  and  miners.  The 
Macmillan  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Pelly,  flows  through 
a  great  mountain  sheep  country  and  is  a  region  sought  by 
hunters  of  this  game. 

A  landmark  of  the  Yukon  just  beyond  Fort  Selkirk  is 
Victoria  Rock,  an  interesting  study  in  mountain  model- 
ling, for  nature  has  sculptured  here  an  excellent  profile  of 
a  charming  old  lady. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly  begin  what  are  sometimes 
called  the  Upper  Ramparts  of  the  Yukon,  a  great,  ram- 
part-like wall  that  forms  the  bank  of  the  river  for  about 
ten  miles.  Its  level  top  and  straight  sheer  drop  are  im- 
pressive and  give  a  bit  of  unique  river  scenery  probably 
not  equalled  elsewhere  in  the  world. 

The  next  two  streams  of  importance  to  join  the  Yukon 
are  the  White  River  and  the  Stewart  River.  The  White 
River  was  so  named  by  Campbell  because  of  its  color. 
There  are  immense  deposits  of  volcanic  ash  along  it,  and 
this  pulverized  pumice  stone  in  rainy  weather  is  washed 
into  the  stream.  Its  waters  are  also  glacial  and  this 
double  burden  poured  into  the  Yukon  beclouds  its  hitherto 
sparkling  waters. 

The  Stewart  is  one  of  the  principal  tributaries  of  the 
Yukon  and  has  played  quite  an  important  part  in  open- 
ing up  this  region.  It  is  said  that  every  bar  of  the  Stewart 
River  has  money  in  it,  and  had  the  Klondike  discovery 
never  been  made,  the  Stewart  would  no  doubt  have 
brought  many  miners  to  this  section.     It  was  discovered 


100        Alaska,  Om  Beautiful  Northland 

in  1849  and  named  for  one  of  Campbell's  clerks  at  Fort 
Selkirk.  About  two  hundred  miles  above  its  mouth  are 
Fraser  Falls  where  the  river  flows  through  a  gorge  with 
falls  and  rapids,  making  a  pretty  bit  of  scenery,  and  offer- 
ing to  the  speculative  eye  the  possibility  of  generating 
horse-power  to  run  dredges  on  the  river.  In  the  Stewart 
River  section  are  several  farms  with  comfortable  build- 
ings, herds  of  cattle  and  fields  of  hay. 

The  discovery  of  gold  on  the  Stewart  brought  trading 
posts  and  one  was  established  here  by  Harper  who 
founded  the  one  on  the  site  of  Fort  Selkirk,  and  his  part- 
ners, McQuesten  and  Mayo. 

The  names  of  this  trio  are  almost  synon}mous  with 
the  early  development  of  all  this  region.  In  fact,  Mc- 
Questen has  been  called  the  Father  of  the  Yukon.  They 
came  into  the  country  by  way  of  the  Mackenzie  and  the 
Porcupine,  arriving  at  Fort  Yukon  in  1873.  In  1874, 
McQuesten  established  a  trading  post  at  Fort  Reliance, 
six  miles  below  the  present  site  of  Dawson,  and  the  point 
from  which  distances  were  reckoned  which  gave  such 
names  as  Fortymile,  Sixtymile  to  mining  camps.  As  gold 
was  discovered  at  various  places,  these  men  quickly  fol- 
lowed with  their  posts  and  Circle  City.  Ogilvie  and  many 
other  settlements  were  started. 

As  the  settlements  as  they  are  passed  recall  the  stories 
and  struggles  of  these  early  days,  the  journey  grows  more 
interesting.  The  river  is  ever  beautiful.  Now  wide,  now 
narrow,  it  sweeps  on.  sometimes  with  many  channels, 
sometimes  with  just  one  between  high  bluffs,  until  at  last 
a  high  mountain  looms  on  the  left,  an  island  in  the  middle 
of  the  stream,  two  domes  on  the  right,  one  with  a  great 
scar  like  a  cave  high  on  its  side,  and  Dawson  appears. 


CHAPTER    VIII 


THE   DAWSON    OF   TO-DAY 


A  TOWN  OF  FRIENDLINESS  AND  CHARM.  ThE  SEAT  OF  THE  PRO- 
VINCIAL Government.  Robert  Service's  cabin.  Farming 
AT  Dawson.  Social  life.  Indoor  and  outdoor  sports. 
Modern  methods  of  gold  mining. 

The  Davison  of  to-day  is  a  pleasant  town  of  neat 
homes,  thrifty  gardens,  and  many  flowers,  both  indoors 
and  out.  On  the  front  street,  one  walks  along  the  river 
bank  which  makes  the  stream  seem  much  nearer  and 
friendlier  than  when  it  is  shut  off  by  huge  factories  and 
railroad  tracks.  At  the  rear  of  the  town,  the  houses 
climb  up  the  green  slopes  of  Sunset  Dome,  the  homes 
looking  very  pretty  as  they  nestle  in  the  green  of  the 
hillside.  This  friendly  contact  with  both  mountain  and 
river  may  be  the  cause  of  the  town's  peculiar  charm,  for 
it  has  a  charm  felt  at  once.  Across  the  river,  another 
great,  green  dome  looms,  and  up  and  down  the  stream 
hills  and  mountains  are  seen.  But  though  thus  encircled, 
there  is  a  sense  of  openness  and  spaciousness  that  is  a  de- 
light, perhaps  because  the  streets  are  wide  and  every- 
where are  caught  visions  of  mountains  and  wood  and 
stream. 

There  is  also  a  friendly  air  in  the  life  of  the  town. 
Signs  read,  "  Jimmy's  Place,"  "  Sam's  Store,"  and  you 
feel  that  if  you  go  in,  Jimmy  and  Sam  will  wait  upon  you 
with  a  cheery  kindliness  that  will  make  purchasing  quite 
a  different  experience  from  what  it  is  elsewhere. 

101 


102        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


The  city  is  modern  in  every  respect  and  has  electric 
Hghts,  telephones,  many  hotels,  a  good  school,  a  library, 
and  several  churches.  The  school,  it  may  be  said  to 
Dawson's  credit,  was  erected  in  1901,  but  three  years 
after  the  rush.  It  is  a  large  building  with  facilities  for 
the  teaching  of  all  grades  up  to  honor  matriculation  into 
Toronto  University.  That  such  a  matter  was  so  well 
attended  to  in  the  mad  excitement  of  those  days  speaks 
well  for  the  temperament  of  Dawson. 

The  most  pretentious  buildings  of  the  town  are  the 
Commissioner's  residence,  the  Administration  Building, 
the  post  office  and  subsidiary  buildings  connected  with 
official  work,  for  Dawson  is  the  seat  of  all  the  machinery 
of  the  provincial  government.  Some  of  the  buildings 
are  attractive  frame  structures  several  stories  in  height, 
surrounded  by  well-kept  lawns,  flower  beds,  and  neat 
fences.  The  Administration  Building  can  accommodate 
eighty  officials.  The  Commissioner's  or  Governor's  resi- 
dence is  impressive  in  appearance  and  handsomely  fur- 
nished. Near  by  is  a  park  where  baseball,  tennis,  and 
other  games  are  enjoyed.  This  little  centre  of  a  larger 
life  gives  quite  an  urban  air  to  the  town  and  makes  it  far 
more  impressive  than  is  the  usual  place  of  small  houses 
and  log  cabins. 

On  one  of  the  outlying  thoroughfares  which  some  of 
the  residents  of  Dawson  are  endeavoring  to  have  named 
Service  Street,  is  Robert  Service's  cabin.  It  sets  back  in 
a  grass-grown  yard  with  wild  roses  and  bluebells  min- 
gling with  the  high  grass,  and  with  a  fence  made  of  small 
saplings  enclosing  the  premises.  The  Union  Jack  flies  at 
the  peak  of  the  porch  roof  and  moose  antlers  lift  their 
graceful  lines  against  the  sky. 

The  cabin  is  rustic  throughout.  The  porch  steps  are 
logs,  the  railings  arc  of  slender  poles,  and  a  big  porch 


The  Dawson  of  To-day  103 

chair  is  made  of  similar  poles  and  saplings.  There  is  one 
room  with  a  little  kitchen  back.  The  cabin  is  situated  on 
the  slope  of  Dawson  Dome  and  has  a  fine  view  down  over 
the  town,  out  across  the  river  to  the  big  mountain  on  the 
other  side,  and  up  and  down  the  stream  to  the  farther 
mountains  that  block  the  view. 

Some  children  playing  in  the  street  when  asked  once  by 
a  curious  visitor  what  the  occupant  did  responded  ear- 
nestly, "  He  don't  do  nothing.  He  just  sits  on  the  porch 
and  then  goes  in  and  writes." 

The  world,  however,  is  not  likely  to  agree  with  them. 
His  poems  are  popular  with  lovers  of  outdoors,  those 
favored  with  the  wanderlust,  and  with  all  who  appreciate 
the  spirit  of  the  pioneer.  His  poems  have  a  big  sale 
throughout  Canada  and  the  Northwest,  and  copies  of  his 
works  at  public  libraries  are  always  "  out." 

Mr.  Service  was  born  in  England  but  raised  and  edu- 
cated in  Scotland,  taking  some  studies  at  the  Glasgow 
University.  When  twenty  years  of  age  he  came  to  Can- 
ada and  thence  onward  to  the  Pacific  slope.  While  in 
the  Yukon  he  held  a  position  for  some  time  as  a  clerk  in  a 
bank.  Those  who  know  him  speak  of  him  as  exceedingly 
quiet  and  reserved,  as  one  who  enjoys  listening  to  the 
stories  which  often  he  later  embodied  in  his  poems,  but  as 
not  entering  actively  or  intimately  into  the  life  about  him. 

The  Dawson  people  are  flower  lovers.  Indoors  and 
out  blossoms  riot.  Window  boxes  and  hanging  baskets 
are  everywhere.  The  streets,  too,  are  well  bordered  with 
wild  flowers — bluebells,  fireweed,  wild  mustard,  wild 
roses,  and  other  blossoms  —  giving  the  town  a  gay,  bright 
air.  Almost  every  home  has  its  garden,  and  several  hot- 
houses supply  hotels  and  restaurants  with  tomatoes,  let- 
tuce, radishes,  onions,  and  such  delicacies.  One  hothouse 
had  at  one  time  fifty  tomato  plants  loaded  with  the  lus- 


104        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

cious  red  globes  and  cucumber  vines  on  poles  under  the 
glass  equally  well  freighted. 

Lettuce,  radishes,  onions,  and  such  small  stuff  are 
started  in  the  greenhouses  in  February  and  by  March  the 
products  are  on  the  market;  so  that  the  people  of  Dawson 
have  these  delicacies  almost  as  early  as  those  in  the  States 
served  from  the  South.  Celery,  tomatoes,  peppers,  egg- 
plant, cucumbers,  and  the  like,  are  started  in  March  and 
transplanted  to  open  ground  later,  in  May  if  the  weather 
is  suitable;  so  that  this  supposedly  Arctic  region  is  not  so 
far  behind  what  are  considered  more  favorable  sections. 

Back  in  the  hills  are  many  farms.  On  one  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  are  raised  hay  and  vegetables,  and 
the  owner  has  a  good  herd  of  stock.  Oats  are  ripened 
and  threshed  about  Dawson,  and  large  quantities  of  wild 
hay  are  cut.  Oats  that  cut  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre  have 
been  harvested,  and  potatoes  dug  that  produced  two  hun- 
dred to  three  hundred  bushels  to  the  acre. 

It  was  one  of  the  stampeders  in  the  rush  of  '98  who 
first  started  to  raise  vegetables  in  this  section,  and  his 
efforts  met  with  the  ridicule  initial  efforts  in  a  new  line 
are  so  apt  to  do.  He  was  laughed  at  for  thinking  he  could 
raise  anything  in  this  latitude  and  in  ground  which  only 
a  foot  or  so  beneath  the  surface  was  frozen.  To  the  sur- 
prise, however,  of  those  who  laughed,  the  man  succeeded. 
The  seeds  produced  fine  vegetables  for  which  he  got  a 
fabulous  price  from  the  eager-for-green-things  Klon- 
dikers.  The  next  year  he  planted  a  larger  garden  on  an 
island  near  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike  River  and  here  his 
vegetables  matured  much  more  rapidly  than  before.  He 
sold  his  crops  faster  than  he  could  gather  them,  and  got 
such  remarkable  prices  as  six  dollars  a  dozen  for  stalks 
of  celery,  thirty-five  to  fifty  cents  a  pound  for  turnips,  car- 
rots, Ijeets,  cabbages  and  such  products.    A  man  who  has 


The  Dawson  of  To-day  105 

a  hothouse  in  Dawson  to-day  said  regretfully  that  if  he 
had  only  started  to  raise  vegetables  when  he  first  came  in- 
stead of  hunting  gold,  he  would  now  be  wealthy. 

The  success  of  this  pioneer  gardener  started  others,  and 
the  industry  rapidly  spread.  Each  year  it  has  increased, 
until  to-day  about  two  hundred  acres  of  land  are  under 
cultivation  in  and  around  Dawson,  and  the  crops  produced 
compare  favorably  with  those  outside. 

Life  in  Dawson  has  many  pleasant  social  features.  The 
winter,  the  time  when  many  think  that  the  people  sit  in 
semi-darkness  hugging  red-hot  stoves,  is  the  gayest  sea- 
son. There  are  many  fraternal  and  beneficial  societies 
in  Dawson,  including  the  Masons,  Yukon  Pioneers,  Odd 
Fellows,  Eagles,  Moose  and  Arctic  Brotherhood,  and  they 
give  delightful  dances.  Concerts  by  local  talent  of  no 
mean  order  are  also  given. 

Sleighing,  toboganning,  and  snow-shoeing  are  among 
the  outdoor  sports.  The  chief  social  amusements,  how- 
ever centre  around  Dawson's  Amateur  Athletic  Associa- 
tion's skating  rink,  which  provides  exhilarating  sport  for 
hundreds  nightly  throughout  the  winter.  The  Curling 
Club's  rink  is  in  the  same  building,  the  membership  being 
one  of  the  largest  in  the  world. 

The  club  building  is  a  mammoth  affair  costing  $42,000 
and  is  virtually  a  part  of  the  municipality,  and  as  notable 
a  branch  of  the  Yukon  public  affairs  as  the  capitol  build- 
ing or  any  part  of  the  government.  It  numbers  among  its 
supporters  and  adherents  almost  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  in  the  town  and  many  who  live  out  on  the  creeks. 
The  building  covers  an  area  one  hundred  by  two  hundred 
feet  and  the  front  part  is  two  stories  high.  It  is  lighted 
by  electricity  and  many  of  the  rooms  are  steam  heated. 
In  addition  to  the  fine  sheets  of  curling  ice  and  the  skat- 
ing rink,  there  are  handball  courts,  a  fine  gymnasium, 


106        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


shower  baths,  a  reading  room,  a  billiard  room,  and  a 
large  reception  hall.  In  the  summer,  the  skating  rink 
space  is  transformed  into  a  natatorium  with  a  tank  eighty 
feet  long  and  thirty-five  feet  wide  and  with  an  average 
depth  of  seven  feet. 

During  the  summer,  outdoor  sports  come  to  the  fore. 
Baseball  is  popular,  and  the  games  are  played  in  Minto 
Park,  which  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $12,000.  The  games 
are  often  played  at  midnight.  Indeed  the  midnight  games 
are  rather  a  feature  of  Alaskan  life.  International  games 
are  played  here  and  the  Dawson  team  often  journeys  to 
other  Alaskan  cities,  one  year  sending  its  team  to  Fair- 
banks, seven  hundred  miles  away,  to  compete  for  the  In- 
ternational Championship  North  of  Fifty-three. 

Football  is  played  nearly  as  much  as  baseball.  The 
Indians  have  a  good  team  and  some  spirited  games  are 
pulled  off.  The  natives  play  better  with  a  buckskin  ball 
filled  with  caribou  hair  than  with  the  regulation  ball.  The 
matches  played  with  the  Indians  and  their  ball  are  fast 
and  furious,  for  the  reason  that  this  ball  cannot  be  sent 
any  great  distance  with  a  kick  or  punch,  and  the  players 
are  consequently  concentrated  about  the  ball  most  of  the 
time.  Moccasins  instead  of  shoes  are  worn,  a  handicap 
for  the  Canadian  players,  as  this  footwear  hurts  their 
toes,  all  features,  however,  which  add  to  the  enjoyment  of 
the  game  by  the  spectators. 

Any  one  who  has  seen  the  Indian  team  from  Carlisle 
in  the  States  play  knows  that  the  Indians  put  up  a  good 
football  game. 

Dawson  has  many  interesting  trips  for  the  sightseer. 
A  climb  up  the  dome  back  of  the  town  is  one  of  the 
favorites.  The  huge  scar  on  this  hillside  that  looks  like 
the  mouth  of  a  crater  is  seen  long  before  Dawson  is 
reacherl.    It  was  caused  by  a  great  earth  slide  which  it  is 


The  Dawson  of  To-day  107 

said  buried  an  entire  village  of  Indians.  Its  resemblance 
to  a  dressed  moosehide  gave  the  mountain  in  the  early 
days  the  name  of  Moosehide  or  Mooseskin.  But  to-day 
it  is  generally  called  Sunset  Dome  or  Midnight  Dome  be- 
cause of  the  pilgrimages  made  to  its  summit  by  midnight 
"  sunners." 

The  trail  winds  by  fairly  easy  zigzags  up  through  pop- 
lar and  spruce  and  wild  flowers  innumerable  till  the  bare 
top  is  reached  about  twenty-nine  hundred  feet  above  the 
sea  level.  A  wonderful  view  is  the  reward.  The  river 
winds  away  through  the  hills,  a  quiet  river  that  knew  little 
but  the  canoe  of  the  Indian  and  trader,  the  flash  of  the 
wild  bird's  wing,  and  the  leap  of  the  salmon,  until  the 
stream  of  gold  that  poured  from  the  hills  brought  the 
world  to  its  bosom.  The  eye  follows  this  gold  stream,  the 
Klondike,  back  into  the  hills,  among  which  lie  the  famous 
creeks  whose  sands  were  gold,  and  then  on  to  the  great 
sweep  of  snow  peaks  that  bound  the  horizon  on  the  east- 
ern edge,  the  far  northerly  outposts  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. 

Another  pretty  trail  leads  to  Moosehide,  an  Indian 
settlement  about  three  miles  down  the  river. 

A  trip  none  should  miss  is  a  visit  to  the  creeks  which 
yielded  the  treasures  of  gold  that  astounded  the  world. 
This  can  be  taken  by  motor,  or  by  walking  if  only  the 
nearer  ones  are  visited  and  one  does  not  mind  a  walk  of 
eight  or  ten  miles. 

The  car  spins  out  over  a  good  road  along  the  Klondike 
River,  a  mountain  wall  on  one  side,  the  stream  on  the 
other.  The  river  is  filled  with  great  heaps  of  tailings  from 
the  dredges  that  are  slowly  eating  their  way  up  its  bed, 
devouring  the  gold,  leaving  the  stones  and  refuse  behind. 
The  river  at  times  is  almost  blocked  and  has  difficulty  in 
making  a  channel.    In  some  places  earth  has  been  filled  in 


108        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

between  the  piles  of  stones,  and  little  gardens  have  been 
planted  here.  In  the  early  days,  up  this  stream  an  almost 
endless  stream  of  prospectors  mushed,  carrying  their 
packs  on  their  backs. 

Across  Ogilvie  Bridge,  named  for  William  Ogilvie, 
Commissioner  of  the  Yukon  in  the  days  of  the  gold  rush, 
the  road  runs  past  a  large  field  filled  with  growing  pota- 
toes but  only  Avaiting  for  the  dredge  to  come  and  extract 
its  gold,  past  the  buildings  of  one  of  the  big  gold  mining 
companies,  and  then  turns  up  the  famous  Bonanza  Creek. 
Once  this  was  a  clear,  dashing  mountain  stream  between 
enclosing  green  hills.  To-day  it  is  a  scene  of  desolation,  a 
broad  flat  basin  with  water  trickling  here  and  there  and 
with  the  hills  being  washed  down  by  powerful  hydraulic 
streams  that  sweep  away  great  rocks  and  boulders  and 
gravel  beds  as  if  they  were  the  sands  of  the  sea.  The  road 
that  once  ran  alongside  the  creek  bed  is  now  built  high 
above  it  on  tailings  and  climbs  up  the  mountain  side  at 
a  good  grade,  the  scene  growing  more  and  more  desolate. 
Great  black  nozzles  spout  streams  that  tear  down  the 
hills  and  wear  deep  gulches  in  the  rock  where  sluice  boxes 
are  placed.  These  gullies  are  sometimes  scarcely  half  a 
yard  wide  but  thirty  and  more  feet  deep  and  are  every- 
where. Here  and  there  are  great  pieces  of  what  look  like 
rock  standing  out  in  lonely  isolation,  but  in  reality  they 
are  pieces  of  ice  slowly  being  disintegrated  by  the  sun. 
Mountain  sides  that  look  like  perpendicular  walls  of  white 
sand  are  being  rapidly  washed  away  by  the  volume  of 
water  dashed  against  them.  Heaps  of  tailings,  running 
streams  of  sand,  mud,  water,  deep  gullies  are  everywhere. 
It  is  a  scene  of  inextricable  confusion  and  awe-inspiring 
desolation.  Rainbows  dance  in  the  water,  for  nature 
never  forgets  to  be  beautiful,  but  the  green  beauty  of  the 
hills  is  gone.     Here  and  there  the  cabin  of  an  old  timer, 


The  Dawson  of  To-day  109 


the  roof  fallen  in,  moss  growing  over  it,  speaks  of  other 
days  and  other  ways. 

The  ditch  that  brings  the  water  for  all  this  work  is  a 
wonderful  piece  of  construction.  It  starts  some  seventy 
miles  back  in  the  hills,  crosses  precipitous  mountain  tops, 
frozen  morasses,  deep  ravines,  wide  valleys,  rugged  moun- 
tain chains,  and  finally  delivers  its  burden  by  an  inverted 
siphon  over  the  Klondike  River  to  the  mining  camps. 

In  the  difficulties  overcome  and  the  daring  novelty  of 
its  conception,  the  enterprise  is  looked  upon  as  akin  to 
the  building  of  the  Panama  Canal,  except  that  in  some 
ways  greater  obstacles  confronted  the  workers  here.  Sup- 
plies had  to  be  brought  almost  two  thousand  miles  from 
civilization  and  much  farther  than  this  from  factories. 
Men  and  machinery  had  to  be  assembled  far  in  the  in- 
terior of  a  country  which,  until  within  a  few  years,  had 
been  thought  to  be  inaccessible.  An  army  of  men  had  to 
be  cared  for  and  fed  over  a  trackless  area  far  from  even 
the  helpful  Yukon.  New  methods  of  road  building  and 
other  constructive  work  had  to  be  devised  for  the  mo- 
rasses and  other  peculiarities  of  land  which  the  ditch 
traverses.  For  instance,  in  one  place  it  ran  through  a 
glacier,  layers  of  ice  being  uncovered  the  moment  the 
upper  muck  was  removed.  Cribbing  was  resorted  to,  the 
sides  being  lined  with  moss  and  dirt,  thus  taking  a  lesson 
from  the  country  itself,  where  pure  ice  is  found  many 
thousands  of  years  old  unthawed  in  the  hottest  summer 
weather  because  it  is  protected  by  the  natural  growth  of 
moss  with  decayed  vegetation  and  sand  filled  in  between 
the  interstices. 

The  ditch  is  made  up  of  nineteen  and  a  half  miles  of 
flume,  twelve  and  a  half  miles  of  steel  and  stave  pipe,  and 
thirty-eight  miles  of  ditch  varying  every  few  miles  in 
methods  of  construction,  in  dimension,  in  grade,  in  the 


no        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

nature  of  the  ground  traversed.  The  Klondike  River  is 
crossed  by  a  hne  of  steel  pipes  over  a  steel  bridge  built  on 
concrete  piers.  Ten  million  feet  of  lumber  were  used  for 
the  flumes  necessary  to  carry  the  water  of  the  ditch  over 
ravines  and  such  places. 

At  the  head  of  a  jagged  mountain  range  above  timber 
line  is  a  modern  electrical  power  plant  sending  its  cur- 
rents along  heavy  copper  wires  to  the  distant  valleys  of 
the  Klondike  to  turn  the  wheels,  pump  the  water,  elevate 
the  gravels,  wash  the  black  sand,  drive  the  dredges,  and 
light  the  works  at  night.  Here  in  these  creek  valleys 
where  all  this  work  is  being  done  are  many  inventions  for 
mining  devised  to  meet  conditions  in  the  North.  One  of 
these  is  the  electric  elevator,  or  the  electric  dredgeless 
dredge,  as  it  has  been  called.  This  elevator  cleans  out  the 
last  vestige  of  gold  from  the  creeks  before  the  hills  are 
washed  down  on  them.  It  works  on  the  principle  of  a 
dredge  but  without  the  pond,  this  being  replaced  by  a 
sumphole  into  which  the  surrounding  gravels  are  hydrau- 
11  eked.  From  the  top  of  the  steel  tower  carrying  the 
string  of  buckets  runs  a  line  of  sluice  boxes  into  which 
everything  from  the  sumphole  is  elevated  or  pumped. 
By  this  method  large  areas  of  bedrock  are  finally  exposed 
and  drained.  Then  men  get  to  work  with  shovels  and 
picks  and  scrapers  and  the  bedrock  is  cleaned  of  every 
particle  of  gold.  Each  bucket  holds  three  cubic  feet  of 
gravel  and  there  are  seventy-six  of  these  buckets  in  a 
string.     Twenty-four  1)uckets  are  dumped  every  minute. 

The  ditch  is  a  great  feat  of  construction  within  the 
shadow  of  the  Arctic  Circle  of  which  Dawson  may  well 
h^  proud. 

Such  are  Dawson  and  its  mines  to-day.  The  Dawson 
and  its  mines  of  yesterday  are  a  different  story. 


CHAPTER  IX 
the  dawson  of  yesterday 

Origin  of  name  Klondike.  The  two  claimants  for  the  honor 
OF  discovering  Klondike  gold.  The  early  argonauts. 
The  city  in  gold  rush  days.  Its  tragedies  and  comedies. 
The  first  Christmas.    The  hardships  of  mining. 

Before  the  discovery  o£  gold  on  the  Klondike  roused  a 
part  of  the  world  to  semi-madness,  the  little,  flat  stretch 
of  land  between  Sunset  Dome  and  the  river  was  covered 
with  scrub  timber  and  wild  grasses,  and  fringed  with 
alders  and  willows  along  the  bank  of  the  stream.  Its 
likeness  can  be  seen  to-day  in  thousands  of  little,  meadow- 
like expanses  along  the  Yukon,  perhaps  in  time  to  be  the 
scene  of  just  such  frenzied  crowds  as  was  Dawson,  for 
no  one  can  venture  to  prophesy  the  surprises  Alaska  has 
for  the  world.  Across  the  Klondike  River,  which  flows 
into  the  Yukon  here,  was  another  little  flat  lying  under  the 
shadow  of  a  big,  rocky  cliff.  Here  were  a  small  Indian 
settlement,  a  few  cabins  of  white  men,  and  the  ever  pres- 
ent saloon. 

The  Klondike  River  was  a  famous  salmon  run  and  the 
Indians  living  at  its  mouth  drove  stakes  in  the  water  here 
to  compel  the  fish  to  enter  traps  set  for  them.  These 
stakes  had  to  be  hammered  into  the  gravel  of  the  river 
bed  and  the  Indians  called  the  stream  Trondig,  or  Ham- 
mer-water, Tron  meaning  hammer,  and  tiuck  or  diuck, 
pronounced  tig  or  dig,  meaning  water.  McQuesten  and 
Harper,  the  traders  who  had  established  a  post  at  Fort 

111 


112        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Reliance  about  six  miles  down  the  river,  used  this  name 
in  speaking  of  the  place  and  it  gradually  became  cor- 
rupted to  Klondike  which  eventually  came  to  stand  for 
the  whole  district. 

Down  the  Yukon  at  Fortymile,  up  the  near-by  Stew- 
art River,  and  on  various  creeks  and  bars,  a  few  miners 
were  working.  They  had  been  drifting  into  this  section 
since  the  early  '80's  and  by  1896  several  hundred  were 
scattered  throughout  the  district,  making  all  the  way  from 
a  few  dollars  up  to  a  hundred  and  more  a  day. 

Near  these  mining  settlements,  the  traders,  Harper, 
McQuesten  and  Mayo,  had,  as  has  been  said,  established 
posts;  one  at  Fortymile,  another  at  Ogilvie  opposite  the 
mouth  of  Sixtymile  Creek,  another  at  Fort  Reliance  near 
the  present  site  of  Dawson,  one  at  the  mouth  of  the  Stew- 
art River,  one  on  the  site  of  old  Fort  Selkirk.  In  fact, 
wherever  the  news  of  a  gold  discovery  brought  miners, 
one  or  the  other  of  these  traders  followed.  Thus  half  a 
dozen  or  so  of  these  log  trading  posts  were  located  along 
the  river,  and  they  became  the  central  points  for  news  of 
gold  strikes. 

As  far  back  as  1859,  one  of  the  Hudson  Bay  clerks  had 
written  home  from  the  post  on  the  Yukon  River  where  he 
was  working,  "  There  is  a  small  river  not  far  from  here 
where  gold  has  been  seen  so  plentifully  that  it  could  be 
gathered  with  a  spoon.  I  have  often  wished  to  go  but 
could  never  find  the  time.  If  I  could  only  get  time  to 
make  an  expedition  up  the  Yukon,  I  expect  I  could  find 
it  in  abundance." 

The  miners,  however,  let  nothing  interfere  with  their 
search  for  gold.  Up  and  down  the  river,  back  on  the 
creeks  that  emptied  into  it,  and  across  the  mountains  that 
hemmed  these  streams  in,  they  went  with  pick  and  shovel, 
eyes  alert  for  the  shining  metal. 


The  Dawson  of  Yesterday  113 


The  finds  were  comparatively  small  and  news  of  them 
trickled  slowly  to  the  outside.  But,  nfevertheless,  a  thin 
stream  of  prospectors  kept  coming.  Among  these  was 
Robert  Henderson  of  Nova  Scotia,  who  arrived  in  1894 
with  a  small  party  of  miners  and  began  prospecting  on 
the  upper  Yukon  and  the  Pelly.  Continuing  down  the 
river,  the  party  stopped  at  Fort  Reliance,  and  here  Hen- 
derson was  told  of  gold  on  the  Indian  River,  a  stream 
across  a  low  divide  from  the  Klondike. 

It  was  comparatively  virgin  ground,  for  the  news  cir- 
culated at  these  posts  was  often  the  merest  conjecture, 
no  one  perhaps  having  found  gold  in  the  district  under 
discussion  but  simply  believed  it  to  be  there  because  of  the 
formation. 

However,  what  Henderson  heard  was  sufficient  to  make 
him  desire  to  prospect  the  territory  and  he  spent  the  win- 
ter and  the  following  year  working  various  small  claims 
in  this  section  and  panning  out  some  six  hundred  dollars' 
worth  of  gold.  Eventually  in  this  work  he  crossed  the 
divide  to  a  stream  he  called  Gold  Bottom  and  which  he 
believed  flowed  into  the  Klondike  River.  On  the  way 
back  to  his  claim  from  Ogilvie  whither  he  had  gone  for 
supplies,  he  decided  to  ascend  the  Klondike  River. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  stream  he  met  George  Carmack 
and  two  Indian  companions,  Skookum,  or  Strong,  Jim 
and  Tagish  Charlie.  Henderson  told  Carmack  of  Gold 
Bottom  and  invited  him  to  come  and  stake.  Carmack 
said  he  would  and  that  he  would  bring  his  two  Indian 
friends.  To  this  Henderson  objected,  as  he  did  not  wish 
the  stream  to  be  staked  by  Indians,  and  there  was  some 
little  dispute  about  the  matter.  But  finally  they  parted  on 
apparently  good  terms. 

For  some  little  while  Carmack  did  not  go,  but  finally 
he  and  the  Indians  decided  to  accept  the  invitation,  and 


114        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

they  started  going  by  way  of  the  now  famous  Bonanza 
Creek  and  across  the  divide  to  where  Henderson  was 
working.  Some  say  that  on  the  way  Carmack  found 
some  gold  on  Bonanza  Creek.  Others  claim  he  did  not 
discover  it  until  on  the  way  back.  But  if  he  did  find  it  he 
said  nothing  to  Henderson  about  it.  Carmack  and  his 
friends  seemed  to  think  little  of  the  ground  Henderson 
was  working  and  soon  left,  returning  by  the  way  they  had 
come. 

When  again  on  the  Bonanza,  Carmack  shot  a 
moose  and  took  a  piece  of  it  to  the  stream  to  wash.  While 
doing  this  he  saw  gold  in  the  water,  and  getting  a  pan 
quickly  washed  out  a  greater  quantity  of  nuggets  than  he 
had  ever  seen  in  a  single  pan.  He  staked  a  claim  and  the 
Indians  with  him  also  staked.  The  news  of  course  was 
soon  known  and  miners  flocked  in  from  all  near-by  camps. 
Henderson,  across  the  divide  at  Gold  Bottom,  knew  noth- 
ing of  it  till  the  creek  bed  was  all  taken.  So,  though  it 
was  found  because  of  his  invitation  to  Carmack,  Hender- 
son received  no  benefit  from  it.  He  is,  however,  by  some 
looked  upon  as  the  original  discoverer  of  the  Klondike, 
because  he  was  the  first  to  do  any  continued  mining  in  this 
region  and  by  reason  of  his  work  Carmack  and  the  thou- 
sands of  others  followed.  No  doubt,  though,  he  would 
prefer,  like  some  of  Omar's  followers,  "  To  take  the  cash 
and  let  the  credit  go." 

The  effect  of  the  news  upon  the  world  is  historic. 
The  farthermost  parts  of  the  earth  contributed  its 
quota  of  men  —  and  women.  From  Sidney  and  Mel- 
bourne, Australia;  from  Hong  Kong  and  other  parts  of 
Asia;  from  Cape  Town,  Africa;  from  London  and  Paris 
and  Petrograd ;  from  cities  and  villages  and  farms  of  our 
own  country  they  poured.  Many  a  dignified,  white- 
haired  official  of  some  big,  metropolitan  company  v;ill 


The  Dawson  of  Yesterday  115 


tell  to-day  with  a  flash  of  his  eyes  that  shows  a  relish  for 
the  adventures  of  those  days  still  lurks  under  his  suave 
exterior,  of  his  amateur  boat  building,  of  his  eager,  hope- 
ful search,  possibly  of  his  failure  to  find  what  he  was 
seeking.  But  there  is  little  regret  for  the  quest.  The  zest 
of  the  seeking,  after  all  these  years,  leaves  a  flavor  that  is 
still  good. 

Various  were  the  routes  by  which  these  modern  argo- 
nauts sought  this  Eldorado  —  by  the  Stikine  River  and 
Lake  Teslin,  by  the  Chilkoot  or  White  Pass,  by  St.  Mi- 
chael and  up  the  Yukon,  some  even  across  the  Interior 
from  Valdez  or  Cordova,  little  knowing  the  vast  region 
and  the  tremendous  mountain  ranges  that  blocked  their 
way.  Almost  as  difficult  was  the  route  taken  by  some  via 
the  Mackenzie  River  and  the  great  Arctic  plain.  One  man 
who  came  in  this  way  said  his  party  were  more  than  a 
year  getting  in.  His  face  was  grave  and  his  eyes  re- 
flective as  he  said  it,  as  if  he  were  seeing  again  that  year 
of  hardship,  sheer  endurance  and  grim  perseverance  that 
brought  them  through.  Nearly  all,  however,  foregath- 
ered at  Seattle  for  the  first  part  of  the  journey  by  boat. 

Seattle  was  not  ready  for  such  an  influx.  Boats  for 
such  numbers  were  few.  But  the  stampeders  would  not 
wait,  and  so  they  put  forth  in  all  sorts  of  craft  loaded  to 
the  water  line.  Boats  that  had  accommodations  for 
twenty  carried  three  hundred.  Meals  on  some  were 
served  in  wash  tubs,  each  man  taking  a  plate,  dipping  out 
what  he  wanted,  and  sitting  where  he  could.  On  others, 
the  serving  of  meals  went  on  all  day,  so  few  could  be 
served  at  a  time  owing  to  the  cramped  quarters.  In  such 
state  they  sailed  through  the  beautiful  Inside  Passage  or 
took  the  outside  route  to  St.  Michael.  There  are  insuffi- 
cient buoys  and  lighthouses  to-day,  and  in  those  times 
there  were  still  fewer.     Often  the  only  way  to  discover 


116        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

the  proximit}^  of  dangerous  shores  in  a  fog  or  at  night 
was  to  blow  the  whistle  and  listen  for  the  echo.  So  that 
added  to  the  discomfort  of  the  trip  was  the  constant 
danger  of  shipwreck. 

The  majority  landed  at  Dyea  and  Skagway  and  rushed 
for  the  interior  over  the  Chilkoot  and  White  Pass  trails. 
At  first  there  were  no  wharves,  for  like  Dawson  these 
places  sprang  into  being  with  the  coming  of  the  stam- 
peders.  Goods  and  passengers  were  loaded  on  scows  and 
lightered  ashore,  often  to  be  stranded  on  the  mud  flats  if 
the  tide  was  low  or  swamped  if  it  was  coming  in.  Horses 
were  put  overboard  and  compelled  to  swim.  It  was  a 
scene  day  and  night  of  commotion  and  confusion. 

Dyea,  and,  later,  Skagway,  were  filled  with  a  motley, 
enthusiastic,  excited  crowd  of  between  thirty  and  forty 
thousand  people.  Supplies  of  all  kinds  were  piled  on  the 
beach,  on  open  ground,  in  tents,  in  such  structures  as  the 
town  had.  Horses,  mules,  dogs  abounded.  Criminals 
of  all  kinds  flourished.  Gambling  dens  and  dance  halls 
were  on  all  sides.  Men  with  plenty  of  money  one  day 
would  be  penniless  the  next.  But  every  one  was  so  eager 
to  get  on  that  no  attention  was  paid  to  the  tales  of  dis- 
tress told.  Cries  for  help,  shouts  of  murder,  the  crack  of 
firearms,  the  rasping  voice  of  music  hall  singers,  floated  on 
the  air  day  and  night.  "  Fights  were  so  common,"  said 
one  man  telling  of  these  days,  "  that  a  fellow  wouldn't 
get  up  even  if  the  bullets  came  into  his  cabin  or  tent." 

Singly  or  in  parties,  prospectors  almost  hourly  set  oft' 
for  the  interior.  Over  Chilkoot  Pass  they  wound,  an  un- 
ending line  of  men  and  women,  so  close  together  that  if 
one  dropped  out  from  exhaustion,  or  to  fix  his  pack,  the 
gap  closed  up  and  it  was  difficult  to  get  in  again.  Each 
staggered  along  under  as  much  as  he  could  carry,  the 
packs   weighing    from    fifty   to   one   hundred   and   fifty 


The  Dawson  of  Yesterday  117 


pounds.  One  man,  a  big,  hearty  Scandinavian,  who  came 
in  over  the  Stikine  trail,  pulled  four  hundred  pounds  on 
a  sled  for  months. 

A  similar  horde  toiled  up  the  White  Pass  over  boulders 
and  trees,  along  the  rushing  river,  often  finding  it  difficult 
to  secure  a  foothold. 

This  tide  of  humanity  never  ceased  summer  or  winter. 
With  blizzards  filling  the  air  with  blinding  snow,  and  al- 
most smothering  man  and  beast,  with  the  wind  tearing 
through  the  passes  with  a  strength  almost  impossible  to 
withstand,  so  that  the  mushers  had  to  walk  in  crouching 
positions  and  often  seek  the  shelter  of  trees  till  the  worst 
fierceness  of  the  blast  had  passed,  with  avalanches  bury- 
ing men  and  women  and  supplies,  they  toiled  on. 

Supplies  were  cached  along  the  trail.     Sometimes  a 
little  foundation  was  made  of  pine  or  spruce  boughs,  the 
goods  laid  on  this  and  covered  with  a  tarpaulin  bearing 
the  owner's  name.     But  usually  they  were  just  piled  on 
the  ground  or  snow  and  covered.     As  much  as  could  be 
carried  would  be  taken  five  or  six  miles  ahead  and  cached 
and  then  the  return  trip  made  for  more.    As  many  as  ten 
or  a  dozen  trips  were  often  necessary  before  a  man  could 
get  all  his   supplies  moved   forward,   which   practically 
meant  that  the  pass  was  climbed  that  many  times.   Those 
who  had  horses,  dogs,  or  even  goats  packed  their  goods 
on  them,  but  it  was  as  hard  on  the  animals  as  on  the  men. 
Thousands  of  horses  died  in  what  came  to  be  known  as 
Dead  Horse  Gulch,  and  choked  the  trail  with  their  car- 
casses.    In  the  bogs  beyond  the  summit,  other  thousands 
were  mired  and  died.    In  fact,  at  times  the  trails  became 
entirely  choken  with  men,  horses  and  supplies,  and  it  was 
word  of  this  and  of  the  crimes  committed  that  led  many 
to  go  by  the  other  routes.    In  the  spring  and  summer  rain 
would  often  fall  for  weeks  in  torrents,  and  the  trails, 


118        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

where  not  rocky  would  be  deep  in  mud.  In  the  winter 
there  were  the  blizzards  and  snow  and  low  temperature, 
so  that  there  was  little  choice.  But  summer  and  winter 
the  hordes  poured  on.  It  is  estimated  that  thirty  thousand 
people  and  thirty  million  pounds  of  supplies  crossed  these 
two  passes  in  the  days  of  the  rush. 

The  summit  reached,  almost  as  great  difficulties  loomed 
ahead.  The  trail  wound  along  the  small  lakes  and  through 
the  bogs  of  this  section  until  Lake  Bennett  was  reached. 
Horses,  mules,  dogs,  goats,  wheelbarrows,  sleds  with 
sails  in  the  winter,  everything  that  human  ingenuity  could 
devise  to  get  the  stampeders  and  their  goods  thus  far 
was  utilized.  One  woman  clad  in  male  attire  —  breeches, 
a  mackinaw  coat  and  moccasins  —  drove  four  goats  at- 
tached to  a  sled  upon  which  was  the  outfit  of  a  laundry 
she  intended  starting  in  Dawson.  A  bride  and  groom, 
altogether  ignorant  of  the  kind  of  honeymoon  trip  they 
were  starting  upon,  sent  their  goods  ahead  and  brought 
with  them  only  a  small  valise.  They  broke  through  the 
ice  on  one  of  the  small  lakes,  were  rescued  by  the  mounted 
police  and  she  came  riding  into  Bennett  dressed  in  the 
yellow  striped  pantaloons  and  the  red  jacket  of  her  res- 
cuers. 

At  Lake  Bennett  the  crowd  halted  and  set  to  making 
boats.  The  sound  of  wood  chopping,  the  crash  of  falling 
trees,  the  noise  of  saws  filled  the  air.  The  place  hummed 
like  some  great  shipyard.  Nearly  twenty  thousand  boats 
were  built  on  the  shores  of  this  lake  for  the  water  trip  to 
Dawson  during  the  years  of  the  rush. 

Few  of  the  boat  builders  had  had  any  experience  in 
this  work  and  the  crafts  put  together  were  marvels  of 
construction.  They  were  triangular,  oblong,  flat,  sphe- 
roidal, rectangular.  They  were  all  sizes,  all  thicknesses, 
and  many  travelled  as  well  sideways  as  in  any  other 


The  Dawson  of  Yesterday  119 


fashion.  They  were  all  built  in  hot  haste  by  men  eager 
to  be  off  and  who  apparently  had  lost  all  sense  of  fear, 
else  they  never  would  have  set  forth  in  such  craft  for  a 
voyage  of  an  unknown  number  of  miles  on  unknown 
waters.  It  is  said  that  when  the  ice  broke  up  on  Lake 
Bennett  as  many  as  eight  hundred  of  these  boats  set  sail. 
They  were  filled  with  horses,  cows,  dogs,  oxen,  men, 
women,  children,  and  supplies.  They  were  so  close  to- 
gether they  almost  bumped  each  other,  and  forth  they 
sailed,  the  strangest,  weirdest  procession  of  argonauts  the 
world  has  ever  known.  Through  Lake  Bennett,  past 
gusty  Windy  Arm,  into  Lake  Marsh  they  went ;  then  into 
the  jaws  of  Miles  Canyon  with  its  frowning  walls  and 
waters  like  a  mill  race,  through  the  seething,  foaming 
White  Horse  Rapids,  on  down  through  Lake  Lebarge 
and  the  treacherous  Thirtymile  River  with  its  rapids, 
shallows,  concealed  rocks  that  often  broke  a  heavy  scow 
into  pieces  as  easily  as  if  it  were  a  clay  pipe  stem,  on  into 
the  Lewes  and  Yukon  and  finally  to  their  goal,  Dawson, 
where  boats  ten  and  twelve  deep  were  fastened  to  the 
river  bank. 

Dawson,  which  when  the  first  comers  arrived  was  but  a 
frozen  swamp,  quickly  became  like  Skagway,  a  seething 
mass  of  humanity.  A  city  of  sixteen  thousand  people, 
named  for  Dr.  George  Dawson,  Director  of  the  Canadian 
Geological  Survey,  sprang  rapidly  into  existence.  It  was 
a  city  of  tents,  of  log  houses,  of  frame  buildings.  The 
sound  of  hammers  and  saws  filled  the  air,  for  the  building 
of  stores  and  houses  was  going  on  continuously.  Many 
of  the  houses  were  extremely  crude,  for  like  the  boats, 
they  were  built  by  men  unaccustomed  to  house  building. 
Window  frames  and  glass  were  costly.  A  sash  holding 
six  panes,  six  inches  by  six  inches,  cost  twenty-five  dol- 
lars.    Bottles,  however,  were  plentiful,  and  empty  stout 


120        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


and  ale  bottles  were  set  in  crude  handmade  window 
frames  and  gave  a  subdued  light  to  the  interior.  Other 
uses  were  also  made  of  these  bottles.  Table  glasses  were 
scarce.  But  a  piece  of  stout  cord  or  wire  was  heated, 
pressed  tightly  around  the  centre  of  the  bottle,  which  was 
then  dipped  quickly  into  cold  water,  and  it  broke  smoothly 
into  two  parts,  one  making  a  tumbler,  the  other  a  glass 
funnel.  The  people  were  resourceful  and  quick  wits 
cleverly  made  up  for  the  lack  of  material  supplies. 

The  Dawson  bank  of  the  early  days  was  a  tent  with 
an  unplaned  board  for  a  counter,  and  for  a  safe  an  old 
trunk  filled  with  bags  of  gold  dust.  Currency  was  strewn 
all  about  and  clerks  in  shirt  sleeves  attended  to  business. 

Men  surged  the  streets  eager  to  know  about  the  mining 
on  the  creeks,  anxious  to  get  out  and  try  their  fortunes, 
or  keenly  studying  the  business  situation  in  the  newborn 
town  and  deciding  to  try  their  luck  in  some  business  ven- 
ture there.  Men  made  fortunes  and  men  lost  every  cent 
they  possessed.  "  For  one  man  who  made,  there  were 
five  hundred  went  broke,"  said  an  old  timer  telling  of  these 
days.  "  They  were  ruined  financially  and  they  were 
ruined  in  other  ways.  Their  spirit  was  broken  and  that 
was  the  worst  of  all.  I  saw  a  man  who  had  put  every 
cent  he  had  into  a  lot  of  cattle.  Meat  was  high  and  he 
stood  to  make  a  fortune.  He  was  bringing  them  on  a 
boat  through  Lake  Teslin.  A  storm  came  up.  If  the 
men  vv^ith  him  had  kept  their  heads  they  would  have  won 
out,  but  they  got  frightened  and  steered  the  boat  for  the 
shore.  The  bank  was  rocky,  the  barge  was  knocked  to 
pieces  and  all  the  cattle  drowned.  The  look  on  that  man's 
face  was  awful  to  see.     I'll  never  forget  it  as  long  as  I 

^ive." 

"  The  ground  was  horribly  rich,  yes,  horribly  rich," 
said  another  reminiscently.     "  Sometimes  the  gold  was 


The  Dawson  of  Yesterday  121 

so  thick  it  was  on  the  ground  Hke  the  grains  of  wheat  you 
throw  out  to  the  chickens.  Many  got  a  milHon  dollars 
from  a  five  hundred  foot  claim.  From  twenty-nine 
claims  between  fifty  and  sixty  million  dollars  were  taken. 
None  of  the  men  had  ever  had  money  like  that  before 
and  when  they  got  it  in  such  amazing  quantities  they 
didn't  know  what  to  do  with  it.  It  went  to  their  heads. 
They  got  plumb  crazy.  Their  ideas  of  life,  when  they 
could  live  as  they  pleased,  seemed  to  be  to  eat,  drink,  and 
indulge  in  all  kinds  of  orgies.  It  got  to  be  the  fashion 
in  the  dance  halls  when  an  actress  who  was  the  rage  was 
on  to  throw  nuggets  to  her  on  the  stage.  Two  miners 
were  rivals  with  one  girl,  and  one  night  they  tried  to 
outdo  each  other  in  showering  her  with  gold.  Finally 
one  of  them  took  out  his  entire  poke  and  shouting  '  Beat 
that,  if  you  can,'  tossed  it  to  her.  He  died  in  the  poor- 
house." 

So  these  stories  go.  A  man  who  made  a  million  is  now 
working  as  a  lumber  jack  in  one  of  the  camps  in  the 
States.  It  would  seem  as  if  almost  all  of  those  who 
quickly  made  these  amazing  fortunes,  enduring  untold 
hardship  to  acquire  them,  lost  them  just  as  quickly. 
Loaded  down  with  bacon,  fllour,  baking  powder,  coffee, 
sugar,  a  shovel,  axe,  blankets,  possibly  a  Yukon  stove, 
these  men  would  trudge  out  to  the  hills  through  bogs  and 
swamps  in  summer,  or  through  bitter  blizzards  and  tem- 
peratures of  sixty  and  eighty  degrees  below  in  winter. 
They  would  cook  their  food  on  the  shovel  with  which  they 
dug.  If  they  worked  a  few  feet  below  ground,  they  had 
to  thaw  every  inch  of  earth,  and  for  this  they  must  chop 
the  necessary  wood.  The  atmosphere  of  Bonanza,  Eldo- 
rado, Hunker,  Gold  Run  and  other  creeks  was  dense  with 
choking  smoke.  They  lived,  many  of  them,  in  the  most 
sordid  surroundings,  with  unplaned  planks  for  a  table, 


122        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

with  stools  and  bunks  made  out  of  logs  and  rough  boards, 
with  bedding  unwashed  for  months,  with  dishes  un- 
washed for  days.  Time  was  too  precious  for  anything 
but  mining.  Often,  in  such  cabins,  seventy-five  thou- 
sand dollars'  worth  of  gold  would  be  standing  around  in 
tin  cans  or  lying  about  in  bags,  or  even  poured  into  old 
rubber  boots,  when  all  other  receptacles  were  full.  Then 
the  day  would  come  when  they  would  go  into  town,  and 
in  saloons,  gambling  dens,  and  dance  halls,  their  gold 
would  trickle  away,  till,  dead  broke,  they  went  back  again 
to  their  sordid  cabin,  the  fight  with  icy  gravel,  the  life  of 
loneliness  and  hardship  to  wrest  once  more  the  gleaming 
metal  from  the  earth. 

Much  better  law  and  order  were  maintained  in  Dawson 
than  in  the  usual  mining  camp.  The  town  had  its  gam- 
bling places  and  dance  halls.  The  Royal  Alexandria 
Hotel  of  to-day  is  on  the  site  of  one  of  the  most  famous 
of  these  dance  halls,  and  several  others  are  still  to  be 
seen.  But  there  was  little  theft  or  murder.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  Mounted  Police  and  the  quick  justice  meted 
criminals  prevented  this.  If  a  man  lost  his  money,  and 
countless  numbers  did,  it  was  because  he  gambled  it 
away  or  threw  it  away  on  dance  hall  favorites. 

When  a  man  went  into  a  gambling  den  or  saloon,  he 
handed  his  poke  to  the  man  at  the  door.  When  he  came 
out,  he  showed  the  score  of  his  indebtedness,  the  amount 
was  taken  out  of  the  poke  and  the  remainder  handed 
back.  It  did  not  take  long  to  clean  a  man  out  by  this 
process.  The  dance  halls  girls  and  attendants  likewise 
had  schemes  for  parting  a  miner  and  his  poke.  Box 
rushing  was  one  of  these.  The  upper  part  of  the  play- 
house contained  rows  of  boxes.  Between  acts,  the 
actresses  would  rush  up  to  these  boxes  and  induce  their 
occupants  to  treat.     For  this  the  actress  was  slipped  a 


The  Dawson  of  Yesterday  123 

small  ticket  by  the  waiter  which  entitled  her  to  twenty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  money  paid  for  the  drinks.  One 
night  one  man  paid  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for 
cigars,  three  thousand  dollars  for  drinks,  and  owed 
another  thousand. 

One  man  who  was  in  Dawson  during  these  days  said 
in  explanation  of  this  recklessness,  "  Men  were  in  some 
respects  like  boys.  They  threw  off  all  restraint.  At  a 
dance,  two  judges  made  a  bet  as  to  which  could  outdance 
the  other.  They  would  never  have  thought  of  doing 
such  a  thing  elsewhere.  But  here  they  were  free  to  do 
absolutely  as  they  pleased.  One  danced  on  one  foot  while 
he  took  off  his  other  shoe.  Then  he  repeated  the  per- 
formance till  he  was  barefooted,  and  being  thus  able  to 
dance  with  less  fatigue,  won." 

Food  was  high.  Sugar  was  seventy-five  dollars  a  sack, 
flour  one  dollar  a  pound,  candles  one  dollar  and  a  quar- 
ter each,  eggs  eighteen  dollars  a  dozen.  One  man  paid 
two  hundred  dollars  for  a  crate  of  frozen  potatoes.  "  I 
hadn't  tasted  a  potato  for  two  years,"  he  said  with  a 
gleam  of  the  eye  as  if  he  were  again  enjoying  those  frozen 
tubers.     "  I  tell  you,  they  tasted  good." 

If  funds  ran  low  and  money  could  not  be  borrowed, 
clever  wits  usually  devised  some  way  to  get  a  start. 
During  the  Spanish-American  war  no  papers  had  been 
received  for  several  weeks.  One  man  happened  to  get 
one  by  first-class  mail.  He  read  to  the  crowd  about  the 
post  office  a  few  choice  items  and  then  announced  he 
would  read  the  rest  from  a  hall  nearby  at  one  dollar  each 
for  admission.     Five  hundred  men  crowded  in. 

The  lines  at  the  post  office  when  mail  came  in  became 
famous.  They  would  stretch  for  blocks  and  continue  for 
days,  and  many  a  man  in  a  hurry  paid  twenty  dollars 
for  a  place  near  the  window. 


124        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

But  life  had  its  comedies  as  well  as  its  tragedies  and 
toil.  The  ownership  of  one  of  the  claims  on  the  rich 
Bonanza  Creek  had  lapsed  and  two  men  re-staked  it 
simultaneously;  the  one,  however,  who  filed  first  would 
get  it.  Their  stakes  driven,  they  started  pell  mell  for 
Fortymile,  the  recording  place  some  sixty  or  so  miles 
away.  Down  Bonanza  Creek  they  fled  on  foot  until 
Dawson  was  reached.  Here  friends  of  each  who  knew 
the  effort  being  made  had  dog  teams  ready  and  away 
each  flew.  The  oflice  of  Fortymile  closed  at  four  o'clock 
and  each  was  eager  to  reach  it  before  this  hour,  for  there 
was  no  conjecturing  what  might  happen  before  it  opened 
next  morning.  Passing  and  re-passing,  jockeying  for  the 
best  road,  on  they  whirled.  When  within  two  or  three 
miles  of  the  ofiice,  the  dogs  of  one  began  to  flag.  No 
urging  or  whipping  could  speed  them  up.  Seeing  the 
other  about  to  pass,  out  leaped  their  driver  and  started 
on  a  run  for  the  goal.  He  soon  outdistanced  the  dogs 
of  the  other  team  now  beginning  to  be  spent.  Not  to  be 
beaten,  the  driver  of  these  leaped  out  and  began  to  run. 
Neck  and  neck  they  reached  Fortymile,  spent  and  pant- 
ing for  breath.  One  of  the  men  not  being  familiar  with 
the  town  and  seeing  a  large  building  made  for  it.  The 
other  who  knew  the  Recording  Office  turned,  reached  the 
door,  opened  it,  and  fell  exhausted  on  the  threshold,  but 
managed  to  shout,  "  Sixty  above  on  Bonanza."  The 
other,  who  had  realized  his  mistake  when  his  opponent 
turned,  had  followed,  was  close  on  his  heels,  and  drowned 
his  rival's  voice  with  his  shout,  "  Sixty  above  on  Bo- 
nanza." 

The  recorder  decided  the  race  was  a  tie  and  advised 
them  to  divide  the  claim,  which  they  finally  did.  When 
they  came  to  work  it,  it  was  worthless. 

Another  miner  known  as  Charlie  the  Finn  had  located 


The  Dawson  of  Yesterday  125 

a  claim  on  Ready  Bullion  Creek  but  had  not  yet  recorded 
it.  He  boasted,  however,  long  and  loud  about  its  value 
and  what  he  expected  to  do  with  the  millions  he  would 
get  out  of  it.  Some  of  the  other  miners  became  tired  of 
hearing  these  tales  and  decided  to  have  a  little  fun  with 
Charlie.  When  only  a  few  days  remained  of  the  time 
allowed  him  for  recording,  two  strangers  appeared  in 
the  saloon  where  Charlie  as  usual  was  holding  forth  in 
regard  to  his  future  gains.  After  a  drink  or  so  the  bar 
tender  asked  the  men  the  usual  queries  as  to  how  they 
were  doing.  In  secretive  tones,  but  quite  loud  enough 
for  Charlie  to  hear,  they  told  of  having  just  come  in 
from  Ready  Bullion  where  they  had  struck  something 
that  would  make  Bonanza  look  like  a  two-cent  piece.  As 
Charlie  heard  snatches  of  their  talk,  and  recalled  how 
his  own  claim  on  this  creek  w^as  not  recorded,  he  soon 
lost  all  interest  in  the  tale  he  was  telling.  He  strained 
his  ears  to  catch  more  of  their  talk.  Others  crowded 
about  them  and  finally  one  of  the  newcomers  asked, 
"  Who  owns  Claim  Six?  I  have  tried  to  get  some  of  the 
claims  but  can't.  I'm  told  this  isn't  filed.  If  it  isn't, 
I  am  going  right  out  to  stake  and  file." 

This  was  too  much  for  Charlie,  for  this  was  his  claim. 
He  ran  from  the  saloon,  rushed  to  his  cabin,  seized  some 
cold  pancakes,  all  that  was  left  from  his  last  meal,  and 
started  on  a  run  for  Fortymile.  A  miner  coming  in  to 
Dawson  a  few  hours  later  said  he  had  met  a  crazy  man 
running  as  if  for  life,  wnth  some  frozen  pancakes  in  one 
hand  and  his  cap  in  the  other,  and  that  all  he  could  get 
out  of  him  as  he  rushed  past  was,  "  Number  Six,  Ready 
BulHon.     Struck  it  rich." 

It  is  said  that  whenever  Charlie  was  asked  about  the 
affair  afterward  the  language  he  used  made  the  ques- 
tioner wish  he  had  not  brought  up  the  subject. 


126        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


A  tale  is  told  of  two  men  who  were  earnestly  solicited 
by  a  clergyman  to  attend  a  church  service.  Finally  they 
consented.  The  service  was  conducted  with  all  the  cere- 
monies of  the  Church  of  England,  carried  out  as  well  as  it 
could  be  in  those  times  and  circumstances.  The  two  old 
prospectors  had  not  been  to  church  since  they  were  boys 
and  they  intently  watched  the  proceedings,  looking  with 
much  amazement  at  the  choir  boys,  the  incense,  and  the 
other  parts  of  the  service.    Finally  one  turned  to  the  other 

and  said,  "  This  is  the —  queerest  thing  I  ever  saw. 

Look  at  that  bunch  with  white  parkas  on  burning  a 
smudge  in  the  middle  of  winter." 

The  Christmas  of  '96  when  the  news  of  Carmack's 
discovery  had  brought  miners  from  all  near-by  creeks, 
though  the  great  rush  had  not  yet  set  in,  was  uniquely 
celebrated.  There  were  a  few  women  in  the  town  and 
they  determined  to  properly  honor  the  season.  There 
was  no  log  cabin  or  house  large  enough  to  accommodate 
the  crowd,  so  the  women  appealed  to  a  saloon  keeper  for 
the  use  of  his  place  of  business.  Though  it  meant  the 
loss  to  him  of  his  richest  season,  he  cordially  consented 
and  offered  to  put  blankets  in  front  of  the  bar  to  make 
the  place  look  better.  He  stopped  all  gambling  and  gave 
his  establishment  over  to  the  women  entirely. 

The  women  then  went  to  work  to  get  contributions  for 
the  expenses,  and  in  a  temperature  of  fifty  below  trudged 
about  soliciting  gold  dust,  articles  for  decoration,  and 
whatever  would  help  to  the  success  of  the  affair.  Min- 
ers' bags,  trunks,  and  knapsacks  were  ransacked  for 
decorative  articles,  and  out  came  pictures  of  the  queen, 
of  the  president,  of  the  pope,  of  prize  fighters,  and  of 
ballet  girls.  One  man  had  a  flag,  and  another  who  could 
draw  scoured  Dawson  f(^r  wrapping  paper  and  made  ap- 
propriate Christmas  sketches  to  lend  an  air  of  gayety. 


The  Dawson  of  Yesterday  127 

When  Christmas  Eve  arrived  from  far  and  near  the 
crowd  came.  Miners  trudged  through  the  snow  and  cold 
ten  and  twenty  miles.  It  was  a  black  night  with  a  bliz- 
zard blowing,  but  they  came  —  men  absolutely  illiterate, 
men  who  had  graduated  from  Oxford,  lawyers,  doctors, 
men  of  many  professions  and  of  none,  men  who  had 
lived  in  the  wilds  for  years  and  had  not  known  a  Christ- 
mas celebration  since  they  were  young.  Many  were 
unshaven.  Many  had  hair  falling  to  their  shoulders. 
Clothing  of  every  kind  was  worn. 

A  selection  was  read  from  the  Bible,  a  short  address 
was  made,  and  then  old,  familiar  hymns  were  sung.  At 
the  conclusion  of  each,  cheers  shook  the  roof,  stout  boots 
stamped  the  floor,  big  fists  pounded  the  benches,  and 
voices  cried,  "  Hit  'em  again!  "  "  That's  bully!  "  "  Keep 
her  up !  " 

The  next  day  the  Christmas  dinner  was  spread.  Boards 
were  laid  across  barrels,  the  diners  sat  on  boxes,  kegs  and 
benches.  There  was  no  table  cloth,  but  sprigs  of  pine 
trees  gave  a  bright,  cheery  note  to  the  board.  The  miners 
had  brought  their  own  cups,  plates,  spoons,  knives  and 
forks.  The  women  who  had  arranged  the  afifair  and 
their  husbands  were  the  waiters. 

Baked  beans,  stewed  codfish,  baked  salmon,  stewed 
prunes,  tarts  made  of  dried  apples  and  condensed  milk, 
composed  the  menu,  not  much  like  a  Christmas  dinner 
but  ambrosia  to  the  diners  because  of  the  surroundings 
and  the  spirit  of  the  affair.  Cigars  and  pipes  followed, 
and  then  some  one  suggested  that  contributions  be  taken 
for  a  hospital,  for  there  had  been  much  scurvy  and 
typhoid,  and  in  ten  minutes  more  than  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars were  raised. 

An  old  sailor  had  brought  a  battered  violin,  and  he 
squeaked  out  familiar  tunes,  and  everybody  sang.     Two 


128        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Frenchmen  sang  the  "  Marseillaise."  Then  some  one 
started  the  "  Star  Spangled  Banner  "  and  though  few- 
knew  the  words,  everybody  hummed  the  tune.  Then 
came  "  God  Save  the  Queen."  Stories  and  speeches  fol- 
lowed until  the  candles  sputtered  in  their  homemade 
sockets  and  good  nights  had  to  be  said. 

The  creeks  around  Dawson  have  yielded  more  than  two 
hundred  million  dollars  in  gold  and  the  output  still  con- 
tinues. The  work  was  hard.  The  ground  had  to  be 
thawed,  a  slow,  tedious  process.  If  the  windlass  and 
bucket  method  was  used,  one  man  worked  below  with 
pick  and  shovel,  another  drew  the  bucket  up.  If  a  man 
was  working  the  claim  himself,  he  had  to  perform  both 
operations,  climbing  out  of  the  shaft  every  time  a  bucket 
was  ready  to  be  drawn  up.  One  man  from  St.  Louis, 
who  had  a  mortgage  on  his  home,  was  long  remembered 
as  one  of  the  tireless  w^orkers. 

The  names  given  the  creeks  are  stories  in  themselves. 
These  names  are  still  retained,  and  as  one  hears  them 
the  panorama  of  those  old  days  unrolls  before  one. 
Sourdough,  King  Solomon,  Monte  Cristo,  American, 
Cheechako,  Skookum,  Gold  Hill,  Irish,  French,  Bonanza, 
so  the  list  runs.  Through  them  one  glimpses  the  nation- 
ality or  the  temperament  of  those  who  for  several  years 
centred  the  eyes  of  the  world  on  these  hills  and  valleys 
lying  in  the  shadow  of  the  Arctic. 


CHAPTER  X 

dawson  to  fairbanks 

Famous  Fortymile.  Into  American  territory.  Eagle  and 
Circle  city.  The  midnight  sun.  Fort  Yukon  and  its 
interesting  history.  Farming  on  the  Arctic  Circle. 
The  ramparts  of  the  Yukon.    Tanana,  city  and  river. 

Nenana.    Fairbanks. 

As  the  steamer  glides  gently  from  its  dock  at  Dawson  a 
beautiful  scene  lies  ahead.  The  lower  end  of  the  town 
where  are  the  neat  buildings  of  St,  Mary's  Hospital  ends 
in  a  rocky  point  running  out  into  the  river  and  from  this 
a  sheer  mountain  rises  majestically.  The  channel  nar- 
rows, and  ahead,  the  shining  stream  seems  to  run  directly 
into  a  bowl  or  craterlike  cup  in  the  hills.  But  the  river 
deftly  turns,  glides  swiftly  between  these  high  mountain 
walls  and  swings  out  into  broader  spaces. 

This  part  of  the  river  also  makes  its  contribution  to 
Yukon  history.  At  Fortymile,  so  called  because  it  was 
forty  miles  from  Fort  Reliance,  the  trading  post  near  the 
present  site  of  Dawson,  gold  was  discovered  as  early  as 
1886,  Indeed,  the  Fortymilers  stand  out  in  Yukon  his- 
tory almost  as  do  the  Forty-niners  in  Calif ornian  annals. 
Fortymile  is  the  oldest  gold  camp  in  the  North.  Many  of 
the  problems  of  mining  in  the  Arctic  were  worked  out 
here  by  the  early  comers,  for  these  first  miners  had  to 
overcome  frozen  gravels  and  many  other  difficulties  of 
mining  not  encountered  elsewhere,  and  their  experiences 
and  the  methods  evolved  were  of  value  to  those  who  came 
later. 

129 


130        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

The  Fortymile  River,  on  which  the  miners  worked  and 
at  whose  mouth  the  trading  post  was  estabhshed  and  a 
little  settlement  came  into  being,  is  a  picturesque  stream 
full  of  twists  and  curves.  In  some  places  it  has  been 
called  the  Kink  because  of  its  windings.  The  stream  is 
an  unfailing  source  even  yet  of  grubstakes  for  miners. 
For  miles  the  bars  of  the  river  still  yield  a  harvest  and 
hither  come  miners  who  are  "  broke  "  to  rock  out  enough 
for  a  fresh  start.  The  winter  is  usually  the  harvest  sea- 
son for  these  workers  and  by  spring  they  have  cleaned 
up  enough  to  buy  an  outfit  for  a  trip  over  the  hills  into 
new  country. 

The  river  is  very  shallow  over  the  bars  and  freezes  to 
the  bottom.  The  ice  is  removed,  the  gravel  is  thawed 
and  then  rocked  out  in  the  tent,  the  water  for  the  purpose 
being  heated  on  the  camper's  Yukon  stove.  In  the  early 
days,  before  the  river  had  been  so  thoroughly  worked 
as  it  is  at  present,  from  five  to  one  hundred  dollars  a  day 
was  washed  out.  Game,  fish  and  wild  berries  were 
plentiful  and  it  was  a  good  camp. 

Curious  things  have  happened  in  this  camp.  One 
claim  that  paid  its  owner  richly  was  known  as  the 
"  Graveyard."  The  first  man  to  die  on  the  creek  was 
buried  in  this  piece  of  ground  because  it  was  thought  to 
be  utterly  worthless.  But  paystreak  was  struck,  the  body 
moved,  and  the  owner  of  the  ground  became  wealthy. 
The  history  of  gold  mining  in  the  North  is  full  of  such 
accidental  discoveries. 

On  some  of  the  small  creeks  emptying  into  Fortymile 
River  coal  has  been  found.  The  coal  and  gold  are  some- 
times mixed.  One  miner  states  that  some  of  his  richest 
"  pans  "  were  accompanied  by  coal  and  that  gold  has  often 
been  picked  out  of  coal  seams.  Coal  is  sorted  out  of  the 
tailings  in  summer  to  sharpen  the  miners'  picks  and  also 


Dawson  to  Fairbanks  131 

to  be  used  as  fuel  under  boilers.  In  some  places  the 
underground  coal  at  times  burns  and  the  ground  gets  so 
hot  even  in  winter  as  to  burn  the  feet.  One  miner  had 
his  moccasins  destroyed  in  this  way.  On  some  creeks 
in  the  district  magnetic  iron  ore  has  also  been  discovered. 

At  one  time  a  mission  flourished  at  Fortymile  under 
the  care  of  Bishop  Bompas,  who  was  a  son  of  Sergeant 
Bompas  of  the  English  bar  from  whom  Charles  Dickens 
drew  his  character  of  Buzfuz  counsel  for  the  plaintiff 
in  the  famous  suit  of  Bardell  zfs.  Pickwick.  For  nearly  a 
half  century  Bishop  Bompas  labored  as  a  missionary 
among  the  Indians  of  the  Yukon  and  Mackenzie  Rivers, 

Fortymile  is  little  now  but  a  roadhouse,  store,  barracks, 
customs  house  and  a  few  other  buildings. 

Beyond  this  point  the  international  boundary  is  soon 
reached  and  American  territory  is  entered.  To  many,  all 
this  section  is  Alaska,  for  as  WilHam  Ogilvie,  director 
of  the  government  surveying  staff  and  later  governor  or 
commissioner  of  the  Yukon,  says  in  his  book,  "  Early 
Days  on  the  Yukon,"  "  The  United  States  Territory  of 
Alaska  and  the  Yukon  Territory  of  Canada  are  so  inti- 
mately associated  in  the  public  mind  that  few  except 
scholars  or  students  think  of  them  as  separate."  In  Daw- 
son, unless  some  act  specially  connected  with  Canadian 
regulations  such  as  posting  a  letter  brings  the  thought  to 
mind,  one  rarely  is  conscious  that  he  is  in  British  ter- 
ritory. 

Eagle  is  an  attractive  little  town  even  though  there  are 
but  few  buildings.  The  custom  house,  court  house, 
stores,  church,  and  a  scattering  of  houses  comprise  the 
settlement.  More  of  these  are  painted  than  is  usually 
the  case  in  these  settlements,  which,  perhaps,  helps  to 
make  the  pleasing  impression.  The  town  is  located  in 
a  rather  flat,  tree-covered  stretch  with  snow  mountains 


132        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

showing  in  the  distance.  Fort  Egbert  near  by  was,  at  one 
time,  maintained  by  the  government  but  it  has  been  aban- 
doned. It  was  located  on  the  site  of  an  old  trading  post 
founded  by  a  French  Canadian  and  called  Belle  Isle. 

The  first  United  States  district  court  was  established 
at  Eagle  but  later  it  was  removed  to  Fairbanks.  When 
the  court  was  still  here,  the  fort  occupied,  and  miners 
pouring  in  by  way  of  the  Yukon  the  future  of  Eagle 
looked  exceedingly  bright,  and  when  the  initial  surveys 
were  made  by  the  government  for  roads  and  trails,  one 
was  mapped  out  from  Valdez  on  the  Pacific  through  the 
interior  to  Eagle.  But  it  was  never  completed.  The 
gold  strike  came  at  Fairbanks  and  interest  was  diverted 
to  the  interior. 

Making  a  landing  at  many  of  these  little  towns  is  often 
an  interesting  and  curious  proceeding.  The  steamer 
apparently  heads  up  stream,  though  it  has  been  going 
down,  and  then  drifts  down  backward  and  swings  into 
the  river  bank,  which  is  the  only  landing.  The  perform- 
ance seems  clumsy  and  helpless,  but  the  captain  knows 
what  he  is  about,  and  the  passengers  watch  with  keen 
interest  this  seemingly  blundering  but  nevertheless  sure 
landing.  There  are  no  docks  or  piers.  There  is  just 
the  river  bank  several  feet,  sometimes  several  yards,  high. 
The  boat  runs  in  very  close,  sometimes  almost  scraping  it. 
The  gang  plank  is  thrown  from  the  boat  to  the  bluff, 
often  if  there  is  but  little  to  go  ashore,  a  newspaper  per- 
haps and  two  or  three  small  packages,  these  are  tossed  to 
those  on  the  bank  and  the  steamer  goes  on  its  way. 

Another  novel  feature  of  this  river  trip  is  taking  on 
wood,  or  "wooding  up,"  as  it  is  called.  Most  of  the 
steamers  burn  wood,  and  along  the  river  at  certain  points 
are  great  stacks  of  wood  neatly  piled.  The  steamer 
glides  up  to  the  bank,  a  gang  plank  is  thrown  ashore  and 


Dawson  to  Fairbanks  133 

the  wood  wheeled  on  in  hand  trucks  and  barrows.  While 
this  is  being  done  the  passengers  go  ashore  and  pick  wild 
berries  and  flowers.  Some  of  the  little  grassy  meadows 
at  these  points  are  thick  with  wild  roses,  bluebells,  and 
dozens  of  other  lovely  blossoms.  From  fifteen  to  twenty- 
five  cords  are  taken  on  at  a  landing.  It  is  a  low  grade 
brittle  spruce  wood  with,  in  some  places,  a  little  hemlock. 
In  winter,  when  the  frost  is  in  it,  one  crack  of  the  axe 
will  split  a  spruce  log  open.  The  boats  between  Dawson 
and  Fairbanks  burn  on  an  average  one  cord  an  hour. 
The  larger  boats  burn  two  cords. 

From  Eagle  on,  the  river  scenery  for  many  miles  has 
a  grandeur  and  beauty  that  is  unique.  The  banks  of  the 
river  rise  in  sheer  walls,  their  tops  level  as  a  board,  their 
fronts  eroded  into  a  succession  of  rounded  bluffs  with 
deep  canyons  and  gorges  between  filled  with  spruce  and 
hemlock.  Far  away  in  the  background  can  be  seen 
ranges  of  snow  mountains.  This  formation  runs  for 
miles  and  gives  a  peculiarly  weird,  impressive  beauty  to 
the  landscape.  In  some  places  the  rounded  bluffs  grow 
more  jagged  and  rise  into  a  succession  of  rugged  peaks. 
The  river  is  narrow,  swift  and  mud  colored.  Not  a  sign 
of  human  habitation  is  to  be  seen.  For  countless  miles 
is  only  the  primeval  wilderness,  and  one  seems  to  be 
gliding  swiftly  through  a  new  and  strange  world. 

Just  below  Eagle  the  rock  strata  of  one  of  the  bluffs 
has  the  appearance  of  a  piece  of  dress  goods  and  the 
bank  here  has  been  called  Calico  Bluff. 

Circle  is  the  next  settlement.  In  1896  it  proclaimed 
itself  to  be  the  largest  log  cabin  town  in  the  world,  but 
to-day  it  has  Httle  to  boast  of  either  in  population  or 
area.  On  the  river  bank  awaiting  the  boat  were  a  hand- 
ful of  white  people,  among  them  a  few  boys  in  khaki  and 
an  Indian  with  a  pappoose  on  her  back.     The  log  build- 


134        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

ings  of  the  Northern  Commercial  Company,  the  N.  C. 
as  it  is  colloquially  called,  and  a  few  other  stores  and  log 
houses  constitute  the  town.  The  melancholy  howling  of 
malemute  dogs  filled  the  air. 

The  Northern  Commercial  Company,  whose  buildings 
are  seen  in  almost  all  towns  in  Alaska,  is  the  outgrowth 
of  some  of  the  old  trading  companies  of  this  region. 
When  Alaska  was  purchased  from  Russia  by  the  United 
States  the  Russian  Company's  trading  posts  were  ac- 
quired by  a  San  Francisco  firm.  A  few  years  later  an 
independent  company  was  incorporated  which  established 
posts  along  the  Yukon  River  and  engaged  Harper,  Mc- 
Questen  and  Mayo  as  their  agents.  In  a  few  years  this 
company  bought  out  the  San  Francisco  firm,  later  merged 
with  another  company  doing  business  here  and  became 
known  as  the  Northern  Commercial  Company.  To-day 
their  big  warehouses  are  dotted  all  through  Alaska  and 
it  is  the  largest  and  most  successful  trading  company  in 
the  North. 

Circle  is  the  outgrowth  of  a  trading  post  established 
by  McOuesten  when  gold  was  discovered  in  this  vicinity. 
The  town  was  supposed  to  be  on  the  Arctic  Circle  but 
this  latitude  is  not  yet  reached  for  some  eighty  miles. 
But  almost  anywhere  hereabouts  the  phenomenon  of  the 
midnight  sun  can  be  seen  and  hither  come  the  "  Sunners  " 
for  their  view  of  it. 

It  is  worth  the  trip,  for  it  is  a  sight  never  to  l)e  for- 
gotten;  another  of  the  strange,  beautiful  and  unusual 
experiences  Alaska  has  in  store  for  those  who  come  to 
her.  Slowly,  in  a  sky  of  gold  the  sun  sinks  almost  to 
the  horizon.  The  water  is  a  great  shining  pathway  of 
gold  and  in  this  glory  two  small  islands  are  darkly 
silhouetted.  Down,  down,  almost  to  the  water's  edge 
drops  the  great  globe,  hesitates  there  a  few  moments  as  if 


Dawson  to  Fairbanks  135 

undecided  whether  to  go  to  bed  or  to  go  to  work  again, 
and  then,  having  made  up  his  mind,  slowly  moves  in  seem- 
ingly almost  a  straight  line  along  the  horizon  for  a  brief 
space  and  then  slowly  begins  to  rise.  Sometimes  the 
colors  are  different.  There  may  be  a  glory  of  rose  and 
purple,  for  nature  has  such  an  unlimited  palette  of  colors 
she  rarely  needs  to  use  the  same  hue  twice.  But  however 
she  paints  the  sky  and  water,  the  work  will  always  be 
exquisite  in  tinting,  and  the  sight  of  the  great  globe  of 
light  sinking  in  this  glory  of  color  and  then  slowly  rising 
again  to  resume  its  duties  is  so  weird,  so  strange,  that 
one  again  wonders  if  he  is  on  the  familiar  earth  or 
transported  to  some  other  sphere. 

At  Circle  the  Yukon  Flats  begin  and  the  river  loses 
its  picturesque  banks.  It  widens  till  it  seems  like  a  great 
inland  sea  with  islands  here  and  there  green  with  spruce, 
with  channels  everywhere.  It  is  a  maze  of  waterways 
bewildering  to  the  eye,  with  logs  and  tree  trunks  and 
roots  floating  in  it  like  the  wreckage  of  some  destructive 
flood.  The  shores  become  in  places  mere  dim  lines  on 
the  horizon  for  the  river  at  times  is  ten  miles  or  so  wide. 
These  flats  extend  for  some  two  hundred  miles,  and  navi- 
gation on  this  part  of  the  river  is  extremely  difficult  owing 
to  the  constant  changes  in  the  channel  by  reason  of  new 
bars  forming,  banks  eroding,  islands  appearing  and  dis- 
appearing. 

Fort  Yukon,  the  next  stopping  place,  is  on  the  Arctic 
Circle,  which  may  be  the  cause  of  its  being  a  trifle  more 
pretentious  than  the  other  settlements,  though  this  is  more 
likely  due  to  the  fact  that  Fort  Yukon  is  the  oldest  Eng- 
lish speaking  settlement  on  the  upper  river.  It  was 
established  in  1846  by  Alexander  Murray,  a  factor  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  While  Campbell  was  com- 
ing down  the  Pelly  and  making  his  plans  for  Fort  Sel- 


136        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

kirk,  Murray  crossed  the  Arctic  plain  to  the  Porcupine, 
came  down  this  river,  which  empties  into  the  Yukon  here, 
and  founded  a  trading  post  at  the  junction  a  year  or  so 
before  Campbell  completed  Fort  Selkirk.  It  was  said 
to  be  the  best  built  trading  post  in  these  northern  wilds, 
to  have  had  glazed  windows,  plastered  walls,  and  to  have 
been  unusually  attractive  and  comfortable  for  the  wilder- 
ness. But  one  is  inclined  to  be  a  bit  skeptical  as  to  the 
glazed  windows,  unless  the  traders  evolved  some  method 
of  making  them  on  the  spot.  Window  glass  some  fifty 
years  later  at  Dawson  was  a  luxury.  To  get  it  to  Fort 
Yukon  would  mean  an  overland  trip  from  Montreal. 
Perhaps  the  windows  were  evolved  from  bottles,  as  many 
were  in  Dawson. 

However,  it  was  an  important  post  and,  when  Fort 
Selkirk  was  burned,  became  the  chief  Hudson  Bay  post 
on  the  river.  Here,  in  1862,  came  Archdeacon  McDon- 
ald, of  the  Church  of  England,  for  missionary  work 
among  the  natives.  He  studied  the  Indian  language,  ex- 
tracted its  grammar,  and  translated  the  Bible,  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  and  some  of  the  hymns  into  the  native 
tongue.  He  also  taught  the  Indians  to  read  and  write 
in  their  native  language.  He  labored  faithfully  among 
them  for  many  years.  It  is  thus  one  of  the  oldest  mis- 
sionary stations  with  the  exception  of  those  of  the 
Russians  on  the  lower  river,  on  the  Yukon,  and  it  is  to-day 
the  site  of  a  flourishing  mission  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal church. 

A  roadhouse,  a  wireless  station,  log  houses,  frame 
buildings  and  the  hospital  of  the  mission  make  an  at- 
tractive settlement.  The  log  hospital  is  quite  the  most 
impressive  looking  building.  It  has  many  windows, 
dainty  white  curtains  and  a  glimpse  of  flowers  within. 
It  seems  perilously  near  the  bank  considering  how  many 


Dawson  to  Fairbanks  137 


places  have  been  washed  away  and  that  some  of  the 
houses  connected  with  the  mission  station  here  have 
already  gone  into  the  waters  of  the  Yukon.  Upon  his 
return  from  his  latest  trip  to  the  Arctic,  Stefansson  was 
taken  care  of  here  while  recuperating. 

One  of  nature's  totem  poles,  a  tree  with  excrescences 
resembling  the  human  face,  has  been  set  up  in  a  yard.  A 
little  carving  has  helped  along  the  likeness  to  human  fea- 
tures and  to  still  further  carry  this  out  a  cigar  has  been 
stuck  in  the  mouth. 

Near  the  settlement  is  the  Old  Hudson  Bay  cemetery 
in  which  are  the  oldest  known  graves  of  white  people  on 
the  Yukon. 

When  the  United  States  purchased  Alaska  from  Rus- 
sia this  Hudson  Bay  post  had  to  move.  There  was  then 
so  little  accurate  knowledge  as  to  where  the  boundary 
between  the  British  and  American  possessions  really  was 
that  the  post  had  to  move  twice  before  it  finally  reached 
British  territory,  and  the  last  location  seemed  a  matter 
of  luck  more  than  knowledge  for  it  chanced  to  be  over 
the  line  but  a  few  miles. 

The  country  around  Fort  Yukon  is  flat  with  willows 
and  poplars  and  a  few  spruce  for  greenery. 

An  up  river  boat  is  passed  here  and  mail  handed  to  it 
for  a  quicker  trip  outside  than  the  down  boat  gives.  Ac- 
quaintances exchange  the  popular  greeting  in  Alaska, 
"  Are  you  going  out?  "  or  "  Are  you  in  for  some  time?  " 
for  "  inside  "  and  "  outside  "  are  the  two  terms  in  Alaska 
to  designate  life  in  the  Territory  and  life  in  the  States. 
"  It  sounds  like  jail,"  one  passenger  laughingly  remarked, 
as  he  heard  some  one  ask,  "  How  long  are  you  in  for?  " 
and  another,  "  When  do  you  get  out?  " 

The  breaking  up  of  the  ice  in  the  spring  which  sweeps 
away  the  river  banks  and  the  houses,  a  sample  of  whose 


138        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


destructive  power  is  seen  at  Fort  Yukon  in  the  carrying 
away  of  one  of  the  mission  buildings,  is  a  sight  quite  as 
well  worth  seeing  as  the  midnight  sun,  if  the  season  were 
as  favorable.  The  ice  in  all  sorts  of  fantastic  shapes, 
"  like  houses  on  end,"  one  describes  it,  moves  in  stately 
fashion  down  stream.  Sometimes  the  whole  body  stops 
perfectly  still  and  lies  in  the  river  without  motion.  Then 
the  wind  springs  up  and  it  begins  to  move.  Around 
rocky  points  it  sweeps,  the  rock  splintering  the  ice  into 
fine  spray  like  salt  that  rises  geyserlike  in  a  snowy  column 
sometimes  thirty  feet  high. 

At  all  the  towns  along  the  river  the  people  gather  to 
see  the  sight.  It  is  not  only  a  majestic  spectacle  but  it 
is  an  event  of  importance  for  it  means  the  opening  of 
spring  and  summer  business.  Each  year  in  these  towns, 
bets  are  freely  made  as  to  the  date  when  the  ice  will  go 
out,  and  sometimes  pools  are  formed  running  into  thou- 
sands of  dollars.  In  Dawson  the  event  is  timed  by  aid 
of  a  wire  cable  fastened  to  a  prominent  pedestal  set  on 
the  ice  midway  between  the  shores.  The  wire  is  attached 
to  an  electric  stop-clock  ashore. 

Some  eighty  miles  beyond  Fort  Yukon  is  Beaver  where 
a  sign  reads,  "  Government  road  to  Caro,  Coldfoot  and 
Bettles,"  and  one  has  a  mental  picture  of  a  trail  winding 
over  vast,  lonely  stretches  of  mountain  and  woods  and 
tundra  into  the  great  Arctic  wilderness. 

Rampart,  the  next  stop,  has  more  than  usual  interest. 
In  appearance  it  is  much  like  other  settlements  being  but 
a  little  group  of  log  houses,  but  in  one  of  these  cabins 
lived  Rex  Beach,  the  writer  of  Alaskan  stories,  and  across 
the  river  can  be  seen  the  neatly  painted  buildings  of  the 
government  agricultural  experiment  stations,  the  fields 
green  with  crops,  the  whole  place  looking  much  like  a 
prosperous  little  farm  in  New  Jersey  or  the  Middle  West. 


Dawson  to  Fairbanks  139 

The  hills  slope  up  rather  noticeably  back  of  Rampart 
and  through  them  runs  a  trail  to  Hot  Springs  near  Fair- 
banks. The  distance  by  this  trail  is  about  seventy  miles, 
whereas  by  the  river  it  is  several  hundred. 

At  one  of  the  stops  along  here  a  woman  missionary 
came  on  board  who  had  travelled  five  hundred  miles  in  a 
row  boat  to  get  a  steamer  for  the  outside.  Her  experi- 
ence is  somewhat  akin  to  that  of  one  of  the  drafted  men 
during  the  war.  He  was  told  to  take  the  nearest  train 
and  report  at  once.  The  nearest  train  happened  to  be 
twelve  hundred  miles  distant.  He  travelled  by  dog  team, 
canoe,  launch  and  steamer  to  reach  it  and  was  several 
months  on  the  way.  Alaska  is  a  country  of  distances,  a 
fact  some  people  do  not  realize.  The  trip  down  the 
Yukon  from  its  navigable  headwaters  to  its  mouth  is 
more  than  two  thousand  miles. 

The  Yukon  Ramparts  begin  here,  and  after  the  Flats 
it  is  pleasant  to  see  green  hills  and  bluffs  again.  The 
shores  are  clothed  with  spruce,  poplar  and  willow.  In 
some  places  the  bluffs  are  steep  and  shaped  by  wind  and 
water  into  bastionlike  effects  that  give  much  the  appear- 
ance of  a  staunchly  built  fort.  The  walls  are  sculptured 
with  all  sorts  of  weird  traceries  suggestive  of  Egyptian 
heads  and  hieroglyphics.  Again  the  banks  rise  into 
mighty  bluffs  that  seem  to  close  the  river  in  and  make  a 
landlocked  harbor  ahead.  But  always  the  swift  current 
has  worked  a  way  through  and  swings  around  a  sharp 
curve  into  a  gleaming  waterway  ahead. 

The  first  indication  of  Tanana,  the  most  important 
town  on  this  part  of  the  river,  is  the  little  Indian  village 
and  mission  with  its  church  and  homes  and  gardens,  all 
very  neat  and  attractive,  and  a  little  graveyard  amidst 
the  trees  and  grasses.  Then  the  town  itself  comes  into 
view,  consisting  mostly  of  one  street  running  along  the 


140        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

river  with  a  few  houses  scattered  back  from  the  water 
among  the  grasses  and  wild  flowers  and  trees,  and  at  the 
far  end  of  the  town,  on  the  river  bank,  the  cheerful  yellow 
buildings  of  Fort  Gibbon. 

The  impression  the  town  gives  is  pleasing.  Flowers 
are  indoors  and  out.  One  home  boasted  a  tiny  hothouse ; 
another,  of  logs,  had  a  bird  house  at  the  peak.  Some  of 
the  log  houses  have  green  corrugated  iron  roofs  very 
pretty  in  effect  and  at  a  distance  looking  like  soft  green 
moss.  A  town  bulletin  board  announced  essential  news, 
and  the  jail  was  such  an  extremely  comfortable-looking 
place  that  one  felt  were  a  stay  in  the  town  necessary  it 
would  be  well  to  commit  some  misdemeanor  that  one 
might  be  lodged  and  fed  here.  A  horse  was  grazing  in 
a  lot  filled  to  overflowing  with  the  pinkest  of  wild  roses 
and  the  bluest  of  Scotch  bluebells  while  a  marvellous  blue 
sky  arched  overhead,  spruce  framed  in  the  background 
and  the  great  swift  river  rolled  in  front.  One  could  but 
wonder  if  he  appreciated  the  beauty  of  his  dining-room. 

Fort  Gibbon,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  town,  is  most  at- 
tractively situated  with  the  broad  Yukon  in  front  and 
distant  mountains  filling  the  horizon  behind.  It  is  a 
pleasant  place  of  cheery  yellow  buildings  with  red  roofs, 
a  spacious  parade  ground,  a  telegraph  ofiice  and  post 
exchange,  a  moving  picture  theatre  to  which  the  towns- 
folks  are  admitted  upon  payment  of  twenty-five  cents, 
and  the  usual  commissary  and  store  houses. 

Tanana,  or  rather  its  site,  was  in  the  early  days  a  great 
trading  point  for  natives  from  up  the  Tanana  River, 
from  the  Koyukuk,  and  from  the  upper  and  lower  Yukon. 
It  had  an  unspellable  and  unpronounceable  Indian  name 
meaning  "  between  the  rivers."  which  is  probably  why 
"  Tanana  "  has  been  substituted  for  it.  Later,  when  the 
Russians  established  their  posts  on  the  lower  river  and 


Dawson  to  Fairbanks  141 


the  Hudson  Bay  Company  on  the  upper,  the  traders  of 
these  two  companies  joined  the  gatherings  of  the  Indians. 
Down  the  river  in  large,  flat-bottomed  boats  loaded  with 
guns,  blankets,  powder,  tea,  tobacco  and  such  articles 
came  the  Hudson  Bay  men,  and  up  the  river  with  their 
goods  came  the  Russian  agents.  It  was  at  these  meet- 
ings that  the  discovery  was  made  that  the  Yukon  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  people  and  the  Kwikpak  of  the  Russians 
were  one  stream. 

At  Tanana  the  Yukon  River  is  left  by  those  who  go  to 
Fairbanks  and  the  steamer  turns  up  the  Tanana  River, 
another  of  the  large,  important  rivers  of  the  Territory. 
The  name  means,  "  River  of  mountains."  It  is  some  five 
hundred  miles  long  and  drains  a  section  not  only  rich  in 
minerals  but  with  great  agricultural  possibilities.  When 
the  Territory  comes  into  its  full  development  this  river 
will  become  one  of  its  great  business  arteries,  for  down 
it  will  come  agricultural  products  for  settlements  both 
up  and  down  the  Yukon  and  also  merchandise  shipped  in 
over  the  government  railroad  from  the  seaboard. 

A  very  gentle  landscape  greets  the  traveller  as  the  boat 
turns  in,  a  scene  of  broad  waters,  low  shores  green  with 
willow  and  poplar,  low  flat  tree-covered  islands,  and  far 
off  on  the  horizon  a  faint  line  of  blue  mountains. 

Sometimes  the  mountains  come  closer  but  they  are 
gentle  slopes  covered  with  trees.  Again  the  shores 
spread  out  into  flats  green  with  grass  with  here  and  there 
pools  throwing  back  the  reflections  of  the  grasses  and 
wild  flowers  on  their  banks.  Then  will  come  stretches 
of  dense  spruce  forests.  The  steamer,  at  times,  runs 
close  to  the  shore  and  one  can  look  far  into  the  depths 
of  these  woods  with  their  dark  shadows  lighted  here  and 
there  with  flickering  shafts  of  sunlight.  At  times  islands 
dot  the  water,  or  the  shore  line  runs  out  into  sharp  points 


142        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

and  far  away  mountains  are  glimpsed.  At  some  points, 
on  clear  days,  Mt.  McKinley  can  be  seen. 

The  current  is  swift,  the  earth  of  the  banks  soft,  and 
it  melts  in  the  water  like  sugar  in  coffee.  Earth  and 
trees  and  grass  and  flowers  are  constantly  falling  in  and 
all  along  where  the  banks  have  been  undermined,  they 
overhang  the  water  forming  earth  caves  below.  Whether 
the  scene  strikes  one  as  a  picture  of  loneliness  and  desola- 
tion or  as  a  glimpse  of  the  primeval  it  must  be  admitted 
to  be  unique. 

A  stop  is  made  at  Tolovana,  a  settlement  consisting 
of  a  store  and  a  few  log  houses.  It  is  a  point  of  shipment 
to  mines  in  the  interior,  by  means  of  a  boat  which  runs 
some  eighty  miles  up  the  Tolovana  River  to  Log  Jam. 

Nenana  is  next  reached,  a  town  that  leaped  into  prom- 
inence with  the  coming  of  the  government  railroad  from 
Seward  and  Anchorage.  Previous  to  the  advent  of  the 
railroad  Nenana  consisted,  according  to  report,  of  Jimmy 
Duke  and  St.  Mark's  Mission.  But  these  are  entirely 
overshadowed  now  by  the  neat,  green  and  white  buildings 
of  the  government,  bright  new  stores,  and,  most  impor- 
tant of  all,  the  railroad  cars  with  the  big  letters,  "  U.  S." 
in  white  paint  on  their  green  sides,  tangible  evidence  of 
government  ownership  of  the  railroads  that  gives  a  thrill 
to  those  who  have  longed  to  see  it. 

Substantial  looking  warehouses  stretch  along  the  water 
front.  The  mess  house,  storehouses,  hospital  and  cot- 
tages of  the  Alaska  Engineering  Commission,  all  painted 
dark  green  and  white,  come  next,  and  then  the  streets 
and  stores  of  the  town,  broad  streets,  bright  shining  new 
shops  and  hotels  and  restaurants  and  laundries  and 
homes.  For  the  Nenana  of  to-day  is  a  new  town  but  a 
few  years  old  with  the  forest  crowding  close  upon  its  out- 
skirts and  everything  shining  with  the  lustre  of  newness. 


Dawson  to  Fairbanks 143 

The  absence  of  the  usual  numerous  Alaskan  dog  is 
noticeable  and  it  is  discovered  that  he  is  not  allowed 
within  a  mile  of  the  town.  One  sees  him  in  the  Indian 
village  near  by  but  tied  and  disconsolate  and  reproachful. 

Beyond  Nenana  is  Chena,  which  expected  to  be  the 
metropolis  of  interior  Alaska  instead  of  Fairbanks  and 
by  reason  of  its  location  felt  it  should  be.  It  is  on  the 
river,  and  was  the  terminus  of  the  Tanana  Valley  Rail- 
road, a  small  railroad  running  from  Fairbanks  to  various 
mining  camps  round  about  and  now  a  part  of  the  govern- 
ment road.  When  the  government  road  became  an 
assured  fact  and  Chena  felt  its  development  certain,  it 
elevated  the  prices  of  its  real  estate  and  beamingly 
awaited  its  gold  mines  in  the  boom  that  was  to  come. 
But  it  over-reached  itself.  The  prices  asked  were  beyond 
reason  and  opportunity  indignantly  marched  by  and  up 
the  slough  to  Fairbanks,  the  Golden  Heart  of  Alaska,  as 
it  is  called. 

So  the  boat  likewise  passes  by  Chena  with  a  stop  of 
perhaps  a  few  minutes  and  steams  on  up  the  slough  to 
Alaska's  chief  interior  city. 

The  course  up  the  slough  is  devious.  A  small  child 
voiced  the  sentiment  of  many  among  the  passengers  when 
she  exclaimed,  "  It's  the  most  windable  river  I  ever  saw." 
Willows  and  alders  clothe  the  low  banks.  A  dog  ranch 
is  occasionally  seen,  a  rather  unattractive  looking  place, 
where  dogs  are  boarded  during  their  summer  idleness. 
Then  Fairbanks  comes  into  view,  the  tall  wireless  station, 
the  green  fields  of  its  government  experimental  farm, 
showing  first,  and  then,  as  the  town  is  neared,  the  boats 
along  its  busy  water  front,  the  iron  bridge  that  spans 
the  slough,  the  hotels  and  stores  appearing,  all  arousing 
keen  expectations  as  to  what  this  city  in  the  heart  of  this 
vast  country  is  like. 


CHAPTER  XI 

fairbanks,  the  golden  heart  of  alaska 
The  discovery  of  gold  that  created  Fairbanks.    Early  days. 

The    MODERN    CITY    OF    TO-DAY.       NeAR-BY     FARMS    AND    THEIR 

PROSPERITY.     Fairbanks'   bright   future.    A  trip  to  the 
creeks. 

Fairbanks,  like  many  Alaskan  cities,  is  the  result  of 
the  discovery  of  gold.  But  it  has  no  spectacular  history 
like  Dawson  or  Nome.  True,  it  had  its  rush,  but  it 
never  held  the  attention  of  the  world  as  dramatically  as 
did  these  other  two. 

In  1901,  Fairbanks  was  a  small  trading  station  consist- 
ing, like  most  of  these,  of  a  few  log  houses  and  stores. 
Here,  prospectors  making  their  way  from  the  coast,  or  up 
the  river  from  the  Yukon,  or  over  the  mountains  to  Daw- 
son, stopped  for  supplies.  Then  Felix  Pedro  found  gold 
on  a  near-by  creek.  It  is  an  odd  coincidence  that  several 
seasons  before,  when  going  through  this  section  with  a 
few  comrades  on  their  way  to  Circle,  Pedro  found  gold. 
But  the  party  was  in  an  almost  starved  condition,  there 
was  no  trading  post  then,  and  haste  had  to  be  made.  So 
the  gold  was  abandoned.  In  fact  Pedro  did  not  even 
take  sufficient  note  of  it  to  remember  the  exact  location. 
Other  miners,  hearing  of  his  discovery,  tried  to  locate 
the  rimrock  he  had  sighted  but  were  not  successful.  It 
was  not  until  1902  when  he  returned,  lirought  possibly 
by  the  memory  of  his  former  discovery,  and  again  found 
gold,  that  the  rush  in  this  district  started.  Whether  this 
paystreak  was  the  same  as  his  original  discovery  neither 
he  nor  any  one  else  knew. 

144 


Fairbanks,  the  Golden  Heart  of  Alaska    145 

Two  fairly  well-stocked  trading  posts  were  near  now 
owing  to  the  building  of  the  government  military  lines 
through  this  section,  and  Pedro  this  time  did  not  suffer. 
He  was  able  to  work  his  claim  and  did  so  well  with  it 
that  the  news  soon  spread  and  men  came  from  Valdez, 
Nome,  Dawson  and  from  up  and  down  the  Yukon.  They 
camped  on  the  river  bank,  they  lived  in  tents,  they  lived 
in  the  open.  Houses  and  buildings  went  up  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  The  place  was  the  usual  mining  camp  scene 
of  bustle  and  confusion,  of  high  prices  for  a  time,  of 
gambling  dens  and  dance  halls.  Sandwiches  cost  a  dollar 
each.  Yukon  stoves,  "  just  a  piece  of  tin  bent  into 
shape,"  said  a  woman  describing  these  early  days,  "  and 
with  a  little  arrangement  for  a  draft,"  brought  forty-five 
dollars.  Baking  powder  biscuits  were  two  dollars  a  dozen. 
But  these  prices  only  controlled  for  a  short  time.  There 
was  not  the  reckless  throwing  away  of  money  as  at  Daw- 
son. Although  the  district  is  rich  and  has  yielded  a 
tremendous  amount  of  gold,  more  than  sixty-six  millions 
having  been  mined  here  in  thirteen  years,  the  individual 
fortunes  have  not  been  so  great  as  at  Dawson.  The 
men  made  less,  saved  it,  and  often,  when  a  considerable 
sum  had  been  secured,  went  back  to  the  States  to  enjoy 
it.  In  fact  the  gamblers  who  had  come  expecting  to 
reap  the  usual  harvest  went  out  disappointed  and  spread 
some  of  the  hard  luck  tales  that  made  the  camp  at  one 
time  seem  to  be  a  failure. 

The  town  was  incorporated  in  1903  and  a  government 
by  mayor  and  city  council  established.  In  1904  the  fed- 
eral ofifices  were  removed  from  Eagle  and  a  federal  judge 
came.  In  1907  the  city  government  stepped  in  and 
closed  the  dance  halls  and  gambling  places  and  confis- 
cated the  gambling  outfits. 

The  city  to-day  is  far  from  having  the  appearance  of 


146        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

a  mining  camp.  It  is  a  busy,  bustling  town  with  many 
banks,  hotels,  stores,  restaurants,  laundries  and  all  that 
goes  to  make  a  prosperous  business  community.  It  has 
electric  lights,  telephones,  telegraph,  a  jitney  service  to 
the  near-by  creeks  and  mining  towns  and  a  service  of 
several  small  boats  and  launches  up  and  down  the  Tanana 
River.  A  government  bureau  of  mines  is  located  here 
with  a  well-equipped  laboratory.  The  government  also 
has  an  experimental  farm  within  a  few  miles  of  the  town 
where  vegetables,  fruits  and  grains  suitable  for  raising 
in  Alaska  are  tested  out.  On  this  farm,  ground  has  been 
broken  for  the  Alaska  Agricuhural  College  and  School 
of  Mines  and  the  buildings  are  in  course  of  erection.  The 
town  has  also  many  churches,  a  public  library  and  a  good 
school. 

This  school  has  a  corps  of  eight  teachers  and  com- 
prises all  grades  from  the  fifth  to  the  high  school  includ- 
ing manual  training  and  domestic  science.  There  are 
physical  and  chemical  laboratories  with  the  necessary 
apparatus  and  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  equip  these  labor- 
atories w-hen  it  is  remembered  that  the  base  of  supplies 
is  more  than  a  thousand  miles  away,  that  goods  are  some- 
times on  the  road  six  months  and  more  and  that  when 
they  finally  do  arrive  some  essential  part  is  quite  likely 
to  be  missing  and  ingenuity  must  be  taxed  to  supply  it. 
No  large  shipments  can  be  brought  in  during  the  winter 
as  all  supplies  must  come  overland  by  sled,  and  no  matter 
how  important  a  part  of  some  laboratory  apparatus  may 
be  lacking,  it  cannot  be  secured  until  spring  or  rather 
summer  arrives  and  the  river  is  open.  The  supplies  for 
the  entire  year  for  the  whole  community  must  also  be 
brought  in  during  these  summer  months  and  stored. 

Tlie  school-house  is  a  large,  modern  building  with  a 
fine  outdoor  playground  equipped  with  swings,  seesaws, 


Fairbanks,  the  Golden  Heart  of  Alaska    147 


toboggans,  rings  and  other  apparatus  for  healthy  sport. 
The  children  enjoy  these  even  in  the  winter.  The  tem- 
perature has  to  be  extremely  low  to  keep  them  from  their 
outdoor  play.  The  Fairbanks  youngsters  do  not  mind 
cold  weather.  Many  little  tots  walk  a  mile  and  more  to 
come  to  school  with  the  temperature  forty  and  fifty  de- 
grees below.  Of  the  high  school  graduates,  seventy- 
five  per  cent  go  on  to  college  or  university  courses  in  the 
States. 

The  site  upon  which  Fairbanks  is  built  is  quite  level 
and  there  are  no  mountains  to  stop  its  expansion  and  so 
street  after  street  stretches  from  the  business  section  to 
outlying  suburbs  upon  which  are  beautiful  homes.  They 
are  simple  and  unpretentious  in  architecture,  consisting 
mostly  of  bungalows,  sometimes  of  log  cabins.  But  they 
are  artistic  in  design,  and,  as  a  rule,  surrounded  with  a 
wealth  of  flowers.  Almost  all  have  thrifty  gardens  and 
many  have  hothouses. 

In  the  outskirts  of  the  town  is  a  large  park  where 
the  citizens  enjoy  many  forms  of  recreation  and  where 
on  the  Fourth  of  July  and  other  holidays  automobile 
races  are  run  and  other  sports  indulged  in.  One  of  the 
usual  Fourth  of  July  events  is  a  baseball  game  begun 
here  at  midnight. 

The  town  has  many  fraternal  organizations,  a  tennis 
club,  a  rifle  club,  for  there  is  good  hunting  in  the  vicinity, 
and  other  athletic  organizations.  It  has  also  a  woman's 
club  that  is  a  member  of  the  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs.  This  club  maintains  a  children's  playground  at 
the  park  with  a  trained  person  in  charge  and  the  children 
are  taught  games,  and  their  play  is  otherwise  properly 
supervised. 

This  club  has  done  much  good  work  for  the  town,  one 
of  its  efforts  being  the  establishment  of  the  curfew  law 


148        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

by  which  the  children  must  be  in  their  homes  by  nine 
o'clock  in  the  winter  and  ten  in  the  summer.  One  would 
think  the  youngsters  themselves  would  be  ready  for  bed 
by  ten  o'clock.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  the 
summer  it  is  bright  daylight  at  this  hour  and  the  children 
had  been  in  the  habit,  until  the  curfew  took  them  in  hand, 
of  going  off  in  the  woods  and  picking  berries  until  mid- 
night. 

The  gardens  and  hothouses  in  Fairbanks  are  well  worth 
a  study  by  those  who  think  that  Alaska  is  an  uninhabit- 
able and  unproductive  region.  A  home  without  a  thrifty 
garden  in  which  are  growing  potatoes,  peas,  cabbage,  car- 
rots, beans,  lettuce,  celery,  radishes,  —  in  fact  nearly  all 
the  vegetables  that  grow  in  the  States,  —  is  hard  to  find. 
And,  in  addition,  home  after  home  has  at  the  side  or  in 
the  rear,  a  hothouse. 

In  one  of  these  greenhouses,  which  stood  at  the  rear 
of  a  charming  bungalow,  were  growing  tomatoes  in  great 
quantities,  cucumbers,  cantaloupes,  peppers,  onions,  rad- 
ishes, lettuce,  parsley  and  other  kitchen  herbs.  Outside, 
in  the  garden,  were  cabbage  and  celery  that  had  been 
started  in  the  greenhouse.  All  the  plants  in  the  hothouse 
were  in  a  flourishing  condition  and  were  bearing  prolif- 
ically.  Some  of  the  tomatoes  weighed  thirty-four  ounces 
and  those  weighing  a  pound  were  everywhere.  The 
building,  twelve  by  twelve  feet,  cost  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars. 

The  near-by  garden  was  a  most  appetizing  sight.  Peas, 
onions,  beets,  beans,  carrots,  potatoes,  turnips,  corn,  rad- 
ishes, cauliflower,  ground  cherries  were  all  flourishing. 
In  one  patch  were  sugar  beets  from  which  the  family 
made  its  own  syrup;  in  another,  lettuce  heading  up  which 
the  thrifty  housewife  hung  up  to  dry  and  then  by  putting 
in  water  in  the  winter  had  fresh,  crisp  lettuce. 


Fairbanks,  the  Golden  Heart  of  Alaska    149 


In  the  rear  of  the  garden  were  a  chicken  yard  and  house 
where  a  large  number  of  fowls  scratched  and  clucked 
contentedly.  In  the  winter  chicken  houses  must  be 
lighted  and  warmed,  but  this  is  not  so  difficult  a  matter 
as  it  sounds.  The  lighting  is  merely  a  matter  of  switch- 
ing on  and  off  electricity  for  a  few  hours  of  the  day. 
The  heating  is  done  by  means  of  a  big  stove  that  only 
needs  attention  once  a  day.  But  this  slight  effort  means 
fresh  eggs,  chickens  for  the  table,  and  a  good  profit  if  one 
cares  to  make  a  business  of  the  work.  From  these 
chickens,  though  they  are  kept  merely  for  family  use, 
seventy-five  dollars  was  realized  one  January,  and  the 
cost  of  their  feed  was  only  thirty-seven  dollars. 

It  can  thus  be  seen  that  life  at  Fairbanks,  though  in 
touch  with  the  frontier  and  the  primeval,  has  all  the  com- 
forts and  pleasures  that  civilization  has  to  offer.  It  is 
civilization  in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness,  and  the  towns- 
folk drink  of  the  joys  of  both. 

But  Fairbanks  has  a  bright  future  as  well  as  an  at- 
tractive present.  Its  prosperity  does  not  depend  entirely 
upon  its  mining  industries.  These  are  great.  It  is  already 
acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  world's  greatest  gold  pro- 
ducing districts  though  its  miners  have  worked  under 
great  handicaps.  It  has  many  comparatively  low  grade 
ores  not  worked  yet  because  of  the  cost  and  it  has  quartz 
prospects  that  will  yield  richly  when  lowered  cost  of 
transportation  permits  the  bringing  in  of  the  necessary 
machinery.  In  addition,  tungsten  and  other  valuable 
minerals  have  been  found  and  are  only  waiting  cheaper 
transportation  rates  to  be  mined.  Four  and  a  quarter 
millions  have  been  taken  out  within  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  of  Fairbanks  in  one  year.  Half  of  the  gold 
production  of  the  Territory  at  present  comes  from  around 
Fairbanks. 


150        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

This  mineral  wealth  alone  makes  a  bright  future  for 
the  town.  But  the  city  has  much  besides  this  in  the 
territory  adjacent  to  it  to  bring  prosperity.  It  is  in  the 
heart  of  Alaska's  richest  agricultural  domain.  The 
Tanana  Valley,  which  practicall}^  surrounds  Fairbanks, 
contains  a  million  acres  of  good  agricultural  land.  Al- 
ready there  are  many  small  farms  and  dairies  about 
Fairbanks  that  are  doing  exceedingly  well.  One  of  these 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  town  has  ninety 
acres  under  cultivation  and  five  hothouses  in  which  are 
raised  in  the  early  spring  tomatoes,  cucumbers,  canta- 
loupes, lettuce,  onions  and  such  green  stuff.  These  are 
shipped  to  Iditerod,  Ruby,  Nenana,  Fort  Gibbon  and 
other  points  in  the  interior,  sometimes  going  as  far  as 
seven  hundred  miles.  In  the  beginning  of  the  season  the 
tomatoes  bring  one  dollar  a  pound  and  the  cucumbers 
twenty-five  cents  to  one  dollar  each.  On  the  farm  are 
grown  barley,  oats,  hay,  and  in  the  neat  patches  are  rows 
of  cabbages,  cauliflower,  Brussels  sprouts,  beets,  onions, 
carrots,  parsnips,  beans,  rhubarb,  asparagus  and  other 
vegetables.  Celery  is  placed  on  the  market  earlier  here 
than  in  Boston.  In  a  root  cellar  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  ton  capacity  are  stored  the  winter  vegetables.  It  is 
built  partly  under  and  partly  above  ground,  with  walls  of 
moss  three  feet  thick.  Hogs,  chickens,  geese,  ducks  are 
a  part  of  the  business.  A  threshing  machine,  mowing 
machine,  reaper  and  binder  do  the  work  of  the  farm  in 
the  most  modern  way. 

This  is  but  one  of  several  such  farms  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fairbanks,  and  those  who  do  not  have  farms  often 
cultivate  a  few  acres  for  the  profit  to  be  h:.d  from  them. 
At  one  of  the  roadhouses  near  Fairbanks,  the  proprietor 
raises  potatoes  and  has  received  nine  cents  a  pound  for 
them.     He  also,  one  season,  cut  eleven  tons  of  hay  which 


Fairbanks,  the  Golden  Heart  of  Alaska    151 


toward  spring  brought  him  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
dollars  a  ton.  He  has  received  fifty  and  sixty  dollars  a 
dozen  for  chickens  and  fifty  cents  each  for  little  newly 
hatched  chicks. 

But  the  vital  factor  in  Fairbanks'  development  is  the 
coming  of  the  government  railroad.  The  interior  ter- 
minus of  the  road  is  Fairbanks.  This  means  much  lower 
cost  than  heretofore  on  all  things  that  Fairbanks  and  its 
industries  need,  on  food,  clothing,  machinery,  supplies 
of  all  kinds.  It  means,  as  well,  cheap  fuel,  and  this  is 
an  important  factor.  Not  only  in  close  proximity  to 
Fairbanks  but  all  along  the  railroad  are  rich  deposits  of 
coal.  With  the  coming  of  the  railroad  these  can  be 
mined  at  a  good  profit  and  their  product  hauled  at  a 
comparatively  low  cost.  When  it  is  considered  that  the 
ground  has  to  be  thawed  for  all  mining  purposes,  that  the 
fuel  for  this  now  is  wood,  that  the  wood  has  to  be  hauled 
greater  and  greater  distances  each  year  as  forests  are 
denuded,  that  labor  is  high  and  transportation  difficult, 
the  significance  of  cheap  fuel  in  connection  with  the 
development  of  the  country  is  tremendous.  That  is  the 
reason  Fairbanks  is  looking  for  a  growth  that  will  be 
almost  phenomenal  when  cheap  transportation  and  fuel 
are  hers.  She  has  great  resources  waiting  to  be  devel- 
oped. She  needs  these  tools  to  bring  them  into  being. 
When  they  join  hands  interior  Alaska  will  become  one 
of  the  busiest  and  greatest  producing  regions  of  the 
world. 

In  addition,  Fairbanks  will  become  a  great  mecca  for 
tourists.  Many  beautiful  scenic  highways  centre  here. 
The  tourist  can  come  by  the  entrancing  Inside  Passage, 
the  magnificent  White  Pass  and  the  fascinating  Yukon, 
or  the  trip  may  be  made  up  the  Yukon  and  out  over  the 
White  Pass.     The  government  railroad  running  through 


152        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

some  of  the  most  wonderful  scenery  in  the  world  will 
transport  tourists  in  a  few  days  from  its  beautiful  sea- 
board terminus  Seward  or  Anchorage,  or  they  can  come 
from  Cordova  or  Valdez  over  one  of  the  most  glorious 
scenic  auto  highways  in  the  world,  a  road  which  when  it 
becomes  better  known  will  rank  with  the  world's  most 
famous  roads  for  grandeur  and  beauty.  For  more  than 
three  hundred  miles  it  runs  through  the  heart  of  the  most 
majestic  mountain  scenery  the  world  knows,  through 
peaceful  valleys,  over  stupendous  mountain  ranges, 
through  dark  canyons,  along  torrential  rivers.  It  is 
aflame  with  the  beauty  of  wild  flowers.  It  thrills  with 
wild  animal  life.  And  not  the  least  part  of  the  enjoy- 
ment is  the  hospitality  of  the  roadhouses,  unique  hostels 
unlike  anything  of  their  kind  the  world  elsewhere  has 
to  offer,  yet  full  of  comfort,  good  cheer  and  good  food 
in  the  heart  of  the  primeval  wilderness. 

Geographically,  Fairbanks  is  the  centre  of  Alaska. 
This,  in  itself,  would  be  of  little  value,  but  when  are  con- 
sidered the  rich  mines,  the  agricultural  possibilities  about 
it,  the  railroad,  roads  and  river  that  run  like  great  arteries 
from  here  to  carry  these  products  to  all  parts  of  the 
Territory,  this  central  location  is  valuable.  It  means 
that  this  geographical  centre  will  make  it  industrially  the 
centre  of  the  Territory. 

An  interesting  side  trip  from  Fairbanks  is  out  to  the 
creeks.  "  Creek  "  in  Alaska  has  a  special  significance. 
It  usually  means  a  mining  camp.  One  goes  out  to  the 
creeks,  or  he  is  living  on  the  creeks,  and  the  understand- 
ing is  that  he  is  going  to  some  mining  camp  or  that  he  is 
mining.  Creeks  and  mines  are  synonymous.  So,  when 
you  go  out  to  the  creeks,  you  are  not  going  to  a  picnic 
on  some  shady,  winding  stream  as  you  might  be  doing 
did   you   thus   state   your   intention   in   New  Jersey  or 


Fairbanks,  the  Golden  Heart  of  Alaska    153 


Indiana,  but  you  are  going  to  a  little  mining  camp  or  to 
some  individual  mining  operation. 

When  you  first  start  out  from  Fairbanks  for  the  creeks, 
however,  you  might  think  you  were  in  New  Jersey  or 
Indiana,  for  you  pass  neat,  thrifty-looking  farms  with 
rail  fences  and  herds  of  sleek-looking  cattle.  But  the 
scenery  is  different,  for  soon  before  you  stretches  the 
great,  broad  valley  of  the  Tanana  with  the  river  gleam- 
ing in  it,  and  far  away  blue  mountains.  On  clear  days 
Mt.  McKinley,  soaring  twenty  thousand,  three  hundred 
feet  in  the  air,  can  be  seen. 

Nor  are  the  names  of  the  farmers  such  as  one  usually 
hears  in  the  East.  The  Alaskan  farmer  has,  to  be  sure. 
a  proper  and  polite  cognomen.  But  the  community  is 
apt  to  give  him  one  that  it  deems  especially  appropriate, 
and  this  is  the  one  that  rises  most  frequently  to  the  lips. 
Thus  one  goes  by  the  farm  of  Dirty-face  John,  and  as 
men  are  passed  along  the  road  they  are  pointed  out  as 
Hungry  Ike,  Eat-'em-up  Jack  and  other  picturesque 
terms. 

The  road  sweeps  up  and  down  slight  grades  and  soon 
the  farming  land  is  left  behind  and  gentle  hills  appear. 
Here  and  there  is  a  cabin,  a  dump,  sluice  boxes  and  the 
other  paraphernalia  of  mining  and  you  know  you  are 
reaching  the  mining  district.  The  soil  in  many  places  is 
a  black  muck  through  which  tiny  streams  sluggishly 
meander  and  is  vastly  different  from  one's  preconceived 
ideas  of  gold-bearing  ground.  But  underneath  lies  some 
of  the  best  gold-bearing  dirt  in  Alaska.  To  have  your 
conductor  with  a  wave  of  the  hand  point  to  a  most 
ordinary  scrubby  looking  hillside  and  say  nonchalantly, 
"  A  million  was  taken  out  of  there,"  or  off  to  another 
stretch  of  grass  and  "  nigger  heads  "  and  observe,  "  Jim 
got  five  hundred  thousand  out  of  that,"  gives  you  a  sud- 


154        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

den  and  violent  attack  of  gold  fever.  Or  perhaps  he  will 
say,  "  The  fellow  who  had  that  claim  sold  out  for  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and  the  man  who  bought  it 
cleaned  up  a  million,"  and  you  wonder  just  what  your 
feelings  would  have  been  had  you  been  the  fellow  who 
sold. 

Fox,  one  of  the  small  mining  towns  in  this  section,  is 
but  a  collection  of  rather  ramshackle  houses,  restaurants 
and  stores  on  each  side  the  railroad  track,  for  a  railroad 
runs  out  here  from  Fairbanks.  Tailings  are  heaped  all 
about,  and  the  high  framework  that  holds  the  flumes 
through  which  water  is  carried  to  the  miners  is  right  at 
the  edge  of  the  little  settlement. 

A  new  method  of  mining  has  been  introduced  on  some 
of  the  creeks  that  promises  to  be  of  great  help  in  working 
low  grade  ores.  It  is  an  underground  scraper  that  does 
with  three  men  the  work  of  twenty.  This  means  a  big 
saving  and  will  permit  the  mining  of  ores  hitherto  not 
profitable. 

In  the  early  days  trips  to  the  creeks  were  not  so  easy 
or  pleasant  as  to-day.  There  were  no  roads  and  autos. 
The  one  going  made  his  own  trail  through  dense  brush 
and  often  reached  his  destination  with  his  clothes  almost 
torn  from  his  back.  To-day,  however,  roads  and  a  rail- 
road make  a  trip  to  the  mining  districts  about  Fairbanks 
a  comfortable  and  pleasant  expedition  and  one  full  of 
interesting  information  as  to  methods  of  placer  mining. 


CHAPTER  XTI 

MOTORING    THREE    HUNDRED    MILES    IN    THE    HEART    OF 

ALASKA 

The  government  road  to  the  coast.  A  highway  of  unsur- 
passed SCENIC  beauty.  The  wilderness  hostelry  and  its 
unique  charm.  The  valleys,  canyons  and  great  snow 
peaks  of  the  route.  Wild  flowers  in  profusion.  The 
Copper  River  Railroad  and  its  glaqers. 

From  Fairbanks  one  of  the  most  delightful  routes  to 
the  coast  is  by  automobile  either  to  Valdez  or  to  Chitina 
and  thence  by  the  Copper  River  Railroad  to  Cordova. 

The  road  is  the  government  trail  laid  out  in  1905  by 
the  Alaska  Road  Commission  of  which  General  Wilds 
P.  Richardson  was  then  President.  It  is  the  mail  route 
to  the  coast  and  in  the  winter,  when  navigation  on  the 
Yukon  is  closed,  is  the  only  means  of  communication 
between  the  interior  and  the  outside.  The  mail  is 
brought  from  Cordova  or  Valdez  by  sled  to  Fair- 
banks and  then  sent  by  dog  team  to  Fort  Gibbon,  Nome, 
Caro,  Arctic  City  north  of  the  Arctic  Circle,  and  to 
other  interior  points.  At  places  where  short  cuts  can  be 
made  in  the  winter,  but  which  are  impassable  in  summer, 
the  winter  trail  branches  off.  Otherwise  both  winter 
and  summer  routes  are  the  same. 

When  the  road  was  constructed  there  was  no  thought 
of  its  present  use  as  a  motor  highway.  But  in  1913, 
Mr.  Robert  Sheldon,  a  resident  of  Fairbanks  and  Road 
Commissioner  for  the  Fourth  Judicial  Division  of  the 
Territory,  decided  to  see  if  the  trip  could  not  be  made 

155 


156        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


by  automobile.  Speaking  of  his  initial  efforts  he  says, 
"  When  I  first  proposed  an  auto  line  to  the  coast  my 
friends  thought  I  ought  to  be  examined  for  lunacy. 
The  man  who  first  said  the  trip  could  be  done  in  a  buck- 
board  was  counted  insane  and  when  I  suggested  doing  it 
in  an  automobile,  I  was  said  to  be  in  a  worse  state  than 
he.  But  I  made  the  very  first  trip  in  three  days  without 
any  serious  difficulty  and  would  have  accomplished  it  in 
less  time  had  I  not  had  a  breakdown  and  been  compelled 
to  stop  for  repairs.  Now,  our  stage  line  makes  regular 
weekly  trips,  and  often  an  extra  run  when  some  one  is 
in  a  rush  to  get  to  the  coast." 

On  the  morning  the  cars  start,  the  stage  office  is  a 
busy  place.  Passers-by  stop  to  watch.  People  come  to 
see  friends  off.  Miners,  tourists,  workers  at  missions 
along  the  route,  passengers  of  many  kinds  arrive  with 
all  sorts  of  baggage,  from  the  tarpaulin  "  pack  "  of  the 
prospector  to  the  smart  steamer  trunk  of  the  tourist. 
One  after  another  the  cars  drive  up.  Baggage  is  roped 
on.  The  passengers  are  assigned  seats  and  away  the 
cars  whirl. 

The  route  swings  out  one  of  the  principal  streets  of 
Fairbanks  and  through  a  level  stretch  of  land,  past  fields 
and  gardens  with  wild  flags  blooming  by  the  roadside 
until  the  spruce  woods  begin.  Into  their  green  depths 
it  sweeps,  a  little  stream  mirroring  their  shadowy  loveli- 
ness in  its  clear  waters.  A  roadhouse  is  passed  now  and 
then,  a  staunch  log  building,  sometimes  with  brilliant 
wild  flowers  growing  on  the  roof.  In  a  clearing  a  little 
farm  is  a  picture  of  thrift  and  prosperity  with  its  fields 
of  oats  and  hay  and  its  comfortable  log  dwelling.  Then 
the  Tanana  River  appears,  swift,  muddy,  and  in  a  few 
exhilarating  hours  of  seemingly  flying  through  spruce 
woods  and  lanes  of  wild  flowers  with  a  wonderful  blue 


Motoring  in  the  Heart  of  Alaska        157 


sky  overhead  and  a  cool,  spicy  air  tingling  the  blood,  the 
car  sweeps  up  to  Salchaket,  the  roadhouse,  for  luncheon. 

Each  roadhouse  is  a  study.  Each  is  unique,  each  dif- 
ferent, and  each  reflects  the  personality  of  the  one  con- 
ducting it,  so  that  they  become  an  interesting  study  of 
temperament  rather  than  a  mere  eating  and  resting  place, 
for  temperament  is  very  much  a  part  of  life  in  Alaska. 
The  man  or  woman  who  goes  to  Alaska  and  stays  there 
is  usually  a  person  of  marked  individuality  and  it  crops 
out  in  all  he  says  and  does. 

The  Salchaket  roadhouse  has  a  comfortable  sitting 
room  wath  a  broad,  cushioned  seat  running  along  one 
side,  with  windows,  a  big  stove  with  the  inevitable  rack 
above  it  for  hats,  socks,  shirts,  any  and  all  kinds  of  wear- 
ing apparel  that  may  need  drying  in  winter  or  stormy 
weather.  Rocking  chairs,  a  couch,  and  the  ever  present 
phonograph  further  make  the  room  homelike.  To  one 
side  is  a  store  and  to  the  rear  a  dining-room  where  the 
table  literally  groans  under  the  feast  spread  —  roast  beef, 
mashed  potatoes,  peas,  salad,  pickles  and  relishes  of 
many  kinds,  stewed  apricots,  wild  blueberries,  cherries, 
pies,  homemade  bread  and  biscuit,  and  tea  and  coffee. 
Upstairs  are  comfortably  furnished  bedrooms  and  a  bath- 
room with  hot  and  cold  water, 

Salchaket  is  a  mission  station  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal church,  and  a  little  Indian  settlement  near  by  with 
its  mission  house  and  school  gives  an  interesting  glimpse 
of  the  good  work  done  in  Alaska  by  Bishop  Rowe  and 
his  associates. 

The  scenery  that  began  with  such  gentle  beauty  soon 
grows  wilder.  The  Tanana  River  is  crossed  on  a  flat, 
scowlike  boat  drawn  by  a  cable  and  the  road  begins  to 
climb,  giving  wonderful  views  of  the  broad  river  bottom 
with  its  mud  flats  and  islands  and  mountains  beyond. 


158        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

As  lovely  as  the  distant  view  is  the  one  right  by  the  car 
wheels  of  golden  mustard  and  rosy  fire  weed  and  the  ex- 
quisite pure  azure  of  bluebells.  Thickly  among  them 
grows  a  fine,  feathery  grass  somewhat  suggestive  of  the 
slim  needles  of  the  pine,  but  slenderer,  more  delicate,  and 
a  vivid  green.  It  is  a  wonderful  ribbon  of  color  that 
winds  by  the  road  and  the  eye  scarcely  knows  which  to 
seek,  the  great  spaces  ahead  of  river  and  mountain,  or 
the  glowing  gold  and  rose  and  blue  and  green  at  hand. 

The  road  winds  at  times  through  thick  birch  forests. 
Straight  and  slender  and  shining  stands  this  debutante 
among  trees,  as  some  one  has  named  this  slim,  white- 
robed  dweller  in  the  woods  with  its  fluttering  green 
leaves.  Occasionally  a  little  lake  appears  shining 
brightly  in  its  frame  of  green. 

It  is  interesting  to  study  the  construction  both  of  the 
road  and  the  telegraph  lines  in  this  part  of  the  world. 
All  the  bridged  culverts  that  cross  the  road,  and  they  are 
many,  have  slender  poles  sticking  up  at  their  ends.  These 
poles  tell  the  drivers  in  winter  when  the  road  is  piled 
high  with  snow  where  to  go.  Else  they  might  drop  off 
the  end  of  the  bridge  into  a  deep  ditch. 

The  telegraph  wires  are  supported  on  three  poles  that 
in  their  arrangement  suggest  the  outline  of  a  tepee. 
This  is  done  so  that  in  case  of  forest  fire  the  wires  may 
have  a  better  chance  not  to  be  grounded  than  would  be 
the  case  if  supported  by  one  pole. 

The  stop  for  the  night  is  made  at  the  Richardson  road- 
house,  immaculately  clean,  very  comfortable,  and  with 
a  supper  prepared  by  one  woman  at  three  hours'  notice 
for  twenty-one  hungry  people,  of  moose  steak,  mashed 
potatoes,  mashed  turnips,  macaroni  and  cheese,  a  good 
salad,  hot  biscuit,  bread,  radishes,  tea  and  coffee,  fresh 
rhubarb  pie,  a  delicious  pudding,  stewed  fruit  of  various 


""  Occasionally  a  little  lake  appears 


Motoring  in  the  Heart  of  Alaska        159 


kinds,  pickles,  and  two  kinds  of  homemade  cake.  The 
cooking  at  all  these  roadhouses  is  excellent,  the  good  home 
kind  that  is  welcome  to  almost  every  one.  Nearly  all 
the  places  have  their  own  gardens  and  raise  lettuce,  rad- 
ishes and  all  sorts  of  vegetables.  Many  have  their  own 
chickens  and  serve  fresh  eggs.  At  one  were  cows,  and 
fresh  milk,  thick  cream  and  homemade  butter  were  on 
the  menu. 

The  stops  at  these  roadhouses  both  at  noon  and  night 
are  enlivened  not  only  with  the  phonograph,  and  there  are 
good  instruments  and  good  records,  but  with  stories  told 
by  those  who  gather  in  the  living-room  or  about  the  dining 
table.  Every  roadhouse  has  its  phonograph  and  a  large 
supply  of  records,  among  those  at  one  place  being  selec- 
tions by  McCormack,  Alma  Gluck,  by  many  noted  grand 
opera  singers,  famous  solos  by  noted  violinists,  composi- 
tions by  Mendelssohn  and  composers  of  equal  note. 

The  stories  told  are  drawn  largely  from  personal  expe- 
riences and  give  the  hearers  some  unusual  pictures  of  life 
in  the  wilds.  Humor  is  not  lacking,  and  often  is  as  sharp 
and  refreshing  as  the  keen  edge  of  the  breeze  that  sweeps 
from  snow  peaks  and  spruce  forests.  Alaska  politics  and 
federal  rulings  are  discussed  with  a  frankness  and  clear- 
ness that  throw  a  revealing  light  on  many  Alaskan  prob- 
lems. So  that  the  hours  spent  in  living-room  or  at  the 
table  are  a  delightful  and  unique  part  of  the  trip. 

From  Richardson  the  road  runs  high  above  the  river 
and  then  sweeps  into  the  Tenderfoot  Creek  district,  an 
old  mining  region  where  deserted  cabins  and  abandoned 
dumps  tell  of  the  work  of  bygone  days.  Here  and  there 
some  prospects  are  still  being  worked.  The  soil  is  a 
black  muck  and  the  miners  had  to  go  down  seventy-five 
feet  to  gravel  in  some  instances,  which  made  mining  here 
costly  since  it  was  difficult  to  get  in  machinery  and  sup- 


160        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

plies.  Across  the  hills  is  Cyclone  City  where  now  is  just 
one  inhabitant. 

The  road  soon  leaves  this  little  story  of  failure  and 
disappointment  behind  and  sweeps  out  upon  a  wonderful 
view,  the  river  miles  broad  cut  up  into  innumerable  chan- 
nels and  with  countless  islands  and  far  off  upon  the 
horizon  a  great  world  of  mountains  unfolding  and  infold- 
ing into  more  and  more  ranges.  Farther  on  the  stream 
narrows  in  again.  Big,  bold  bluffs  appear,  and  another 
ferry  W'ith  cable  carries  the  car  across  to  a  roadhouse,  a 
few  other  buildings  and  a  little  level  space  covered  with 
grass.  The  Tanana  River  sweeps  off  among  the  moun- 
tains and  is  lost  to  view,  but  the  Delta  River  almost  imme- 
diately appears  and  is  seen  every  little  while  adding  its 
beauty  to  the  ever-changing  landscape. 

The  road  soon  skirts  a  deep  shadowy  ravine,  the  car 
on  a  level  with  the  tops  of  the  trees,  and  cliffs  shutting 
the  gaze  in  to  the  beauty  at  hand  of  sombre  depths,  gray 
boulders  and  steep  rock  wall.  Then  suddenly  it  sweeps 
out  again  into  the  great  spaces  and  you  ride  along  the  rim 
of  a  chasm  that  is  suggestive  a  bit  of  the  Grand  Canyon 
of  the  Colorado  except  that  instead  of  mountains  and 
peaks  below  the  eye  is  a  vast  forest  of  innumerable  thou- 
sands of  spruce  trees.  Straight  and  tall  they  stand  in 
orderly  rows  as  far  as  the  eye  can  see.  Far  on  the  other 
side  is  the  level  rim  of  the  chasm,  beyond  this  blue  moun- 
tains, and  far  on  the  distant  horizon  the  great  Alaskan 
Range  with  peak  upon  peak  towering  into  a  sky  cloud- 
lessly, vividly  blue.  Monarch  of  all,  Mt.  Hayes  rises 
superbly  white  almost  fourteen  thousand  feet. 

Soon,  on  the  other  side  of  the  road,  appear  the  Sheep 
Mountains,  snow-capped  and  snow-crevassed,  and  thus 
named  because  they  are  the  home  of  great  numbers  of 
mountain  sheep.     The  silver  tip  and  glacier  bear  are  also 


Motoring  in  the  Heart  of  Alaska        161 

found  there  and  these  mountains  are  a  popular  country 
with  the  big  game  hunters. 

All  along  the  roadside,  and  as  beautiful  in  their  way 
as  the  great  snowy  peaks,  are  the  wild  flowers,  yellow 
daisies,  wild  larkspur,  a  wonderful  blue,  and  the  harebell, 
a  mountain  variety  with  a  lovely  blue  cup  much  like  a 
crocus,  growing  on  a  short  stem  that  droops  under  the 
weight  of  the  blossoms  and  gives  the  flower  the  effect  of 
being  strewn  carelessly  but  gracefully  over  the  ground. 
The  color  is  an  exquisite  pure  purple-blue,  the  flower 
rather  large  and  as  it  lies  on  the  ground  as  if  scattered 
by  a  lavish  hand,  the  efifect  is  beautiful. 

A  stop  is  made  for  luncheon  and  then  the  journey  is 
resumed  through  a  green  valley,  treeless,  but  with  a  sheet 
of  emerald  green  grass  sweeping  up  the  gentle  slopes  of 
th  hills  that  hem  the  little  valley  in.  These  hills  are 
known  as  the  Fox  Hills  because  of  the  great  number  of 
these  animals  that  burrow  here.  Now  and  then  a  break 
in  the  green  walls  gives  a  vision  of  tiny,  silvery  lakes, 
the  broad  river  and  peak  after  peak,  unbelievably  high, 
of  the  great  range  that  banks  the  horizon. 

Onward  the  road  winds  through  spruce  forests, 
through  lanes  of  wild  flowers,  azure  blue  larkspur,  yellow 
daisies,  white  blossoms  of  many  kinds,  rich  purple-blue 
lupines,  lavender  asters,  an  exquisite  rose-pink  pea;  the 
bluebells  and  the  pink  peas  side  by  side  as  if  knowing 
that  they  enhanced  each  other's  loveliness  by  their  blue 
and  pink  contrast.  Out  close  to  the  broad  shallow  river 
the  road  winds,  the  mud  flats  of  the  river  ablaze  with 
great  sheets  of  the  rosy  wild  pea;  the  shining  silvery 
water,  the  vivid  pink,  the  blue  sky  and  the  snow  moun- 
tains making  a  spectacle  of  color  dazzling  in  its  brilliance. 

A  stop  is  made  for  the  night  at  a  comfortable  log 
roadhouse  on  the  banks  of  a  rushing  river  with  moun- 


162        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

tains  all  around  and  the  next  morning  the  road  winds 
high  above  the  river  with  the  mountains  green  in  the 
foreground  and  snowy,  far-away  peaks  hemming  in  the 
scene.  Then  the  vista  narrows.  The  end  of  the  road 
seems  to  be  blocked  with  a  great  range  of  snow  moun- 
tains, more  magnificent  than  any  Alps,  and  then  out  over 
the  bed  moraine  of  a  glacier  it  sweeps  with  a  rushing 
glacial  stream  here  and  there  and  a  great,  blue  ice  cave 
showing  at  the  foot  of  the  glacier  not  far  away.  Over 
the  gray  rocks  sweeps  the  carpet  of  glowing  wild  peas. 
Far  and  near  soar  snow  mountains  and  overhead  arches 
a  wondrously  blue  sky.  It  is  a  spectacle  of  color  and 
grandeur  to  ravish  the  senses  and  it  is  doubtful  if  the 
world  can  equal  it  elsewhere.  In  fact,  men  who  have 
been  over  the  road  and  who  have  travelled  in  nearly  all 
parts  of  the  world  say  it  is  not  matched  elsewhere  for 
superb  scenery.  It  is  a  road  not  so  well  known  to  tour- 
ists, but  travelled  principally  by  the  people  of  Alaska 
who  know  it  and  by  government  officials  and  those  com- 
ing to  Alaska  both  from  foreign  countries  and  our  own 
upon  special  missions.  This  road  ofifers  a  short  cut  to 
the  coast  and  they  take  it  rather  than  the  long  trip  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Yukon  and  thence  a  long  sea  voyage.  They 
have  little  idea  of  the  scenery  that  awaits  them,  but  when 
they  do  discover  what  a  treat  is  theirs  they  are  loud  in 
their  enthusiastic  praise. 

Along  the  bank  of  the  river,  around  high  bluffs,  the 
road  winds,  flowers  draping  the  sheer  walls  like  hanging 
gardens,  then  into  a  narrow,  V-shaped  valley,  the  walls 
rising  at  steep  angles.  It  is  a  valley  peculiar  in  its  grim 
beauty  and  evidently  volcanic.  The  walls  are  sheer, 
smooth  slides  of  what  seems  a  fine  gravel,  a  soft,  gray 
green  in  hue,  colored  here  and  there  with  red.  At  the 
toj)  they  are  cut  and  ridged  into  jagged  peaks.     Not  a 


Motoring  in  the  Heart  of  Alaska        163 

shrub,  not  a  spear  of  grass  grows  on  them.  But  this 
severity  is  not  unbeautiful.  The  sweep  is  so  tremendous, 
the  sides  so  smooth,  the  color  so  odd  yet  so  soft  that 
the  eye  lingers  upon  the  strange,  weird  loveliness. 

Then  out  into  a  green  meadow  the  road  flashes,  and 
gentler  green  hills  appear  and  lakes,  and  a  glance  back- 
ward shows  the  snow  mountains  as  a  great  circle  of  peaks 
just  showing  above  the  nearer  hills.  Far  back  to  the 
left  a  glacier  is  seen  and  a  turbulent  stream  pours  from 
it  and  wanders  through  a  green  valley  and  into  a  lake 
beyond.  In  the  distance  is  seen  one  of  the  government's 
winter  relief  stations,  a  cabin  stocked  with  wood  and 
various  necessities  for  those  who  may  get  caught  in  a 
blizzard.  For  this  is  about  the  top  of  the  divide  between 
the  waters  that  fllow  into  the  Yukon  and  those  that  join 
Copper  River.  It  is  eighteen  miles  here  between  road- 
houses  and  in  the  winter  those  trudging  on  foot  or  in 
sleighs  often  get  caught  in  terrific  Arctic  storms  and 
would  perish  if  no  shelter  were  near.  The  cabin  is  en- 
tered from  the  roof  for  the  snow  is  piled  to  the  eaves  and 
it  would  be  impossible  to  enter  by  an  ordinary  door. 

The  road  now  runs  for  many  miles  along  another  swift 
flowing  river,  the  Delta  having  been  left  behind,  that 
winds  in  graceful  curves  around  high  bluffs  and  jutting 
peaks  and  wooded  islands.  The  current  is  rapid  and  foams 
and  swirls  over  bars  and  rocks,  or  in  deeper  places  flows 
with  the  quiet  swiftness  of  strength  and  volume.  Then 
it  swings  away  behind  hills  and  a  region  of  lovely  lakes 
begins,  tiny  pools  some  of  them,  lying  amid  spruce  trees 
and  wild  grasses  and  blossoms  with  clearcut  reflections  of 
sky  and  tree  and  flower  in  them  and  tiny  wild  ducks  joy- 
ously swimming  on  their  smooth  surface. 

A  roadhouse  is  reached  for  the  night,  a  comfortable 
place  with  deer  skins  and  other  fur  rugs  on  the  floors, 


164        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

with  rocking  chairs,  and  ice  water  and  dehcious  fried 
chicken  and  oranges  and  French  fried  potatoes  and 
many  other  delightful  things  one  would  never  suppose 
could  be  served  in  the  wilderness. 

The  scene  that  lies  before  the  eye  in  the  morning  as 
the  start  is  made  brings  a  gasp  of  amazement.  Rising 
sheer  into  the  blue  sky  seemingly  but  a  hand's  throw  away 
are  three  towering  mountains  clothed  with  a  shining  gar- 
ment of  snow  from  top  to  base,  Mt.  Wrangell,  sixteen 
thousand  feet  high,  Mt.  Sanford,  fourteen  thousand  feet 
high,  and  another  colloquially  called  "  The  Drum  "  al- 
most the  same  height.  Serene,  majestic,  they  stand,  and 
all  day,  from  one  point  or  another  as  the  road  winds 
toward  them,  they  rise  before  the  eye.  Clouds  drift  and 
float  across  them.  Exquisite  blue-gray  shadows  soften 
at  times  their  sides.  But  from  early  morning  till  the 
Alpine  glow  flushes  them  a  lovely  rose  pink,  they  dom- 
inate the  landscape.  And  it  may  be  that  Mt.  Wrangell 
will  be  in  a  specially  gracious  mood  and  "  blow  "  or 
"  steam  "  or  "  smoke,"  as  the  operation  is  variously  called, 
when  an  airy,  delicate  cloud  of  steam  drifts  slowly  up- 
ward from  its  crater  and  poised,  lightly  as  thistledown, 
finally  floats  off  into  the  blue. 

The  scenery  of  this  day's  ride  is  the  most  magnificent 
of  the  trip.  The  mountains  of  the  great  Coast  Range  fill 
the  sky  with  peaks  fourteen  thousand,  fifteen  thousand 
and  sixteen  thousand  feet  high.  At  times  the  road  sweeps 
out  where  some  broad  valley  will  carry  the  vision  hun- 
dreds of  miles  down  its  length,  dotted  with  lakes,  green 
with  forests,  showing  a  river  like  a  silver  ribbon  tracing 
its  way  through  it.  Again  the  road  clings  close  to  the 
mountain  side  far  above  the  Copper  River  which  winds 
thrrjugh  a  great  chasm  with  high,  sandy  cut  banks  and 
huge  1)luffs  and  level  flats  covered  with  spruce.     High 


Motoring  in  the  Heart  of  Alaska        165 

above  all  soars  Mt.  Wrangell,  the  steam  slowly,  mistily 
drifting  from  its  top. 

Past  Copper  Centre,  a  little  town  of  log  houses,  log 
stores,  warehouses,  dog  houses  and  stables,  the  autos 
whirl,  over  a  rushing  mountain  river,  up  a  hill  giving 
superb  views  backward  of  river  and  mountains,  then 
through  a  dense  woods  of  tall,  straight  spruce  and  birch 
trees,  the  vista  ahead  that  of  a  shadowy  green  lane  with 
a  glowing  border  each  side  of  rosy  fireweed  and  at  the 
far  end  snow  mountains  with  their  soft  blue  shadows. 
Then  down  through  a  deep,  sombre  gorge  the  road 
plunges  and  up  again  on  high  bluffs  above  the  Copper 
River  and  then  out  into  a  green  meadow  where  is  a  road- 
house  and  supper. 

In  a  lovely  setting  is  this  roadhouse.  Low  hills  are  on 
one  side  with  spruce  and  birch.  An  ash-gray  canyon 
leads  off  into  the  mountains  in  another  direction  and 
the  great  sweep  of  the  Copper  River  basin  and  the  majes- 
tic range  of  snow  mountains  delicately  flushing  pink  in 
the  sunset  fills  the  remainder  of  the  view. 

Chitina,  the  end  of  the  journey,  is  not  far  away,  and  af- 
ter supper  the  start  is  made  for  it.  Across  a  river  the  road 
winds  and  then  up  and  up  six  miles  around  mountain  walls 
and  above  the  Copper  River  it  climbs.  The  wide  rushing 
river  far  below  is  a  sheet  of  gold  in  the  sunset  light.  The 
high  cut  banks  are  a  delicate  sand  color.  The  tiny  islands 
that  dot  the  waters  are  the  deep,  shadowy  green  of 
crowded  spruce.  As  far  as  the  eye  can  see  across  the 
great  chasm  of  the  river  is  peak  after  peak  of  snow  moun- 
tains all  rosy  now  in  the  Alpine  glow.  And  rising 
serenely  from  Mt.  Wrangell  is  a  huge,  straight  column 
foaming  over  at  the  top  into  the  likeness  of  a  great, 
glorious  flower. 

One  wonders  if  he  is  dreaming.     The  beauty,  the  tre- 


166        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


mendousness  of  it  all  seem  unearthly.  One  feels  there 
can  be  no  such  scenery  on  this  planet.  But  on  the  auto 
whirls,  around  the  head  of  a  deep  canyon  down  which 
rushes  a  waterfall  and  then  out  again  to  the  river  bank 
with  its  glorious  view.  It  is  half  past  eleven  at  night 
but  the  light  is  still  strong,  which  adds  to  the  sense  of 
the  unreality  of  it  all. 

As  Chitina  is  neared,  the  road  plunges  into  a  deep, 
sombre  canyon.  The  walls  rise  high  and  sheer  on  both 
sides.  A  chain  of  little  lakes  black  in  the  shadow  of  the 
cliffs  fills  the  canyon  floor.  The  road  runs,  a  narrow 
thread,  between  rock  and  water.  Far  ahead  the  walls 
appear  to  close  in  together.  There  seems  no  space  for 
the  road  at  all.  But  it  twists  and  turns  along  the  water's 
edge  and  finally  sweeps  out  into  an  open,  rocky,  level 
space  and  Chitina  is  reached. 

Chitina  is  the  usual  small  Alaskan  town  of  a  few  houses 
mostly  of  log.  several  hotels,  stores  and  restaurants. 
This  is  the  terminus  of  the  auto  road  and  the  Copper 
River  Railroad  is  taken  for  the  continuation  of  the  jour- 
ney to  Cordova. 

This  railroad  achieved  the  seemingly  impossible  in  rail- 
road construction.  At  one  point  it  runs  between  two  of 
the  most  famous  glaciers  in  the  world,  the  Miles  and  the 
Childs,  and  the  bridge  that  spans  the  river  here  has  a  his- 
tory unique  in  the  annals  of  bridge  building. 

Aside  from  the  interest  the  feat  of  constructing  such  a 
road  holds,  the  route  has  scenic  beauty  of  a  high  order. 
From  Chitina  the  road  passes  on  high  trestles  over  sev- 
eral deep  gorges  past  an  Indian  village  where  fish  are 
drying,  on  down  along  the  river  with  fine  views  before 
and  behind  of  the  stream  and  the  great  snow  mountains 
towering  above  it.  Then  the  road  plunges  into  a  canyon 
with  high  bluffs  jutting  in  points  into  the  river.     High 


Motoring  in  the  Heart  of  Alaska        167 

above  the  swift  water,  the  track  creeps  around  the  moun- 
tain edge,  giving  marvellous  views  at  every  turn.  Farther 
on,  Baird  Glacier  comes  into  view  with  grass  and  other 
vegetation  growing  on  the  glacial  ice. 

The  scene  becomes  a  wonderland  of  ice,  snow  moun- 
tains, dense  vegetation  and  the  swiftly  flowing  river. 
Then  into  the  famous  Abercrombie  Canyon  the  road 
plunges,  the  walls  rising  steep  and  sheer,  the  river  foam- 
ing over  great  rocks  and  tossing  and  swirling  in  cataracts 
and  rapids  that  make  those  of  White  Horse  seem  play- 
things in  comparison. 

The  road  now  comes  to  its  famous  glacial  stretch, 
Miles  Glacier  across  the  river  with  a  front  three  miles 
long  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  Childs 
Glacier  almost  at  the  track  side  with  a  front  also  three 
miles  wide  but  three  hundred  feet  high.  It  is  said  that  at 
one  time  this  great  ice  sheet  was  connected  but  that  the 
Copper  River  cut  it  in  two. 

It  is  a  magnificent  sight.  Far  to  the  sky  line  on  each 
side  the  sheet  of  ice  sweeps.  Jagged  mountains  are  all 
around  with  snow  in  their  ravines  and  crevasses,  their 
lower  slopes  green  with  birch  and  willow,  and  right  at 
hand  the  two  towering  ice  walls,  castellated,  crevassed, 
fretted  into  spires  and  minarets  and  towers,  and  blue- 
white  and  sparkling  in  the  sun. 

The  moraines  look  like  great  heaps  of  tailings.  Earth 
has  lodged  in  them  and  though  the  soil  is  a  compound  of 
glacial  ice,  rock  and  muck,  vegetation  grows  luxuriantly 
in  it,  and  gradually  over  these  unsightly  moraines  nature 
spreads  a  lovely  mantle  of  green. 

On  down  through  ever  changing  mountain  and  river 
views  the  train  whirls  till  at  last  Cordova,  the  copper 
gateway  of  Alaska,  is  reached.  It  is  a  busy  town  of 
pretty  homes,  bustling  stores  and  hotels. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

to    the    westward 
Valdez  and  the  Keystone  Canyon.    Port  Wells  and   its 

FIORDS  AND  MARVELLOUS  GLACIERS.    BEAUTIFUL  KODIAK.     ThE 

Aleutian  Islands.  Katmai  Volcano  and  the  great  erup- 
tion OF  1912.  BoGOSLOF  Islands.  Dutch  Harbor  and 
Unalaska. 

From  Cordova  "  to  the  westward,"  as  the  phrase  runs, 
stretches  a  great  region  of  islands,  peninsulas  and  intri- 
cate waterways  as  interesting,  beautiful  and  rich  in  re- 
source as  any  other  section  of  Alaska.  But  it  is  less  well 
known.  It  is  off  the  beaten  track.  It  has,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  towns,  very  little  transportation  service, 
and  so  it  lies  here  unvisited,  unknown,  yet  with  a  life  of 
to-day  and  a  history  of  yesterday  that  thrills. 

It  was  to  this  part  of  Alaska  that  the  Russians  first 
came  and  not  only  are  the  descendants  of  these  early 
Russians  to  be  found  on  these  islands  to  the  westward  but 
here  and  there  is  a  quaint  little  Russian  church,  the  ruins 
of  an  old  shipyard  or  of  some  other  of  their  industries. 
On  these  islands  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago  gardens 
were  planted  and  cattle  raised. 

The  Indians  who  live  here  to-day  are  still  in  their  most 
primitive  condition  and  one  can  still  see  many  of  their 
quaint  practices  and  customs. 

On  these  islands  are  rich  undeveloped,  even  unguessed, 
resources.  New  discoveries  are  constantly  being  made. 
Only  recently  chrome  ore  was  discovered.  At  one  place 
is  a  peculiarly  beautiful  stone  that  washes  up  on  the  beach 

168 


To  the  Westward  169 


in  almost  unlimited  quantities.  It  seems  to  be  from 
descriptions  a  combination  of  agate  and  opal,  for  those 
who  find  it  cannot  classify  it.  But  they  say  it  has  the 
markings  of  an  agate  and  also  a  pure,  clear,  lovely  light  in 
it  like  an  opal.  When  cut  and  polished  it  makes  beautiful 
trinkets.  So  great  is  the  amount  washed  in  that  the 
natives  have  paved  a  stretch  of  sidewalk  in  their  little 
settlement  with  it. 

In  this  region  are  the  great  volcanoes  of  Alaska.  Some 
peaks  are  almost  constantly  steaming.  At  times  there 
are  terrific  eruptions.  Islands  appear  and  disappear  with 
spectacular  displays  of  energy  that  both  fascinate  and 
appall. 

And  with  all  this  picturesqueness  of  history,  primitive- 
ness  of  peoples,  richness  of  resource  and  titanic  exhibi- 
tions of  nature  is  a  grandeur  of  scenery  that  thrills. 

One  can  come  to  this  region  direct  from  Seattle  or  con- 
tinue the  trip  from  Cordova,  if  the  journey  so  far  has  been 
by  the  route  through  the  interior. 

The  harbor  at  Cordova  is  one  of  gentle  beauty.  Islands 
dot  it,  and  headlands  crowded  with  spruce  make  the  shore- 
line a  stretch  of  lovely  curves.  The  hills  rise  steeply  from 
the  water's  edge  dense  with  the  forest  except  where  the 
trees  have  been  cut  away  to  make  room  for  the  houses 
clinging  to  the  steep  side.  The  town  of  Cordova  itself 
lies  the  better  part  of  a  mile  back  from  the  harbor. 

From  Cordova  to  Valdez  is  a  comparatively  short 
trip  through  much  of  the  same  kind  of  beautiful  scenery 
as  the  Inside  Passage.  Tremendous  rocks,  frowning 
crags,  dense  forests,  towering  peaks  purely  white,  make 
the  journey  one  of  scenic  enchantment. 

The  harbor  of  Valdez,  with  the  little  town  nestling  at 
the  feet  of  the  lofty  mountains,  forms  another  beautiful 
picture  as  the  steamer  sails  up  to  the  dock.     The  town 


170        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

though  small  is  a  place  of  pretty  homes,  comfortable  ho- 
tels and  attractive  shops  and  makes  excellent  headquarters 
for  a  stay  of  a  week  or  more.  Many  delightful  trips  can 
be  taken  from  Valdez,  and  the  person  who  wants  a  brief 
holiday  in  Alaska  at  minimum  expense  will  find  this  a 
most  satisfactory  spot  to  select. 

One  of  the  popular  trips  from  Valdez  is  a  motor  ride 
through  Keystone  Canyon.  This  road  joins  the  trail  from 
Fairbanks  to  Chitina  and  one  can  go  on  to  Chitina  down 
through  the  wonderful  scenery  of  the  Copper  River  Rail- 
road and  back  to  Valdez  by  launch  or  steamer  from  Cor- 
dova, thus  making  a  round  trip  that  for  scenery  has  few 
equals. 

The  road  leads  back  from  Valdez  up  through  the  tow- 
ering mountains  that  enclose  the  town.  At  times  the  road 
winds  up  and  up  twenty-six  hundred  feet,  almost  a  steady 
climb  of  seven  miles,  giving  superb  views  of  mountain 
ranges,  great  valleys  and  winding  streams.  Waterfalls 
rush  down  the  mountain  sides,  glaciers  thrust  out  their 
icy  tongues  to  dispute  the  way,  overhanging  cliffs  almost 
brush  the  top  of  the  car.  It  is  a  ride  of  wild,  rugged 
grandeur  that  thrills  with  tonic  exhilaration  and  yet  is 
not  without  loveliness  of  wild  flowers  and  the  sombre 
beauty  of  spruce  to  soften  the  grim  gray  rocks. 

Another  trip  rich  in  scenic  grandeur  is  to  the  Port 
Wells  country.  This  is  off  the  beaten  track,  but  few 
regions  of  Alaska  offer  more  remarkable  natural  beauty. 
It  is  at  present  a  mining  section  and  small  launches  run 
from  Valdez  carrying  supplies  for  the  miners.  They  can 
also  be  hired  exclusively  for  the  trip. 

The  little  boat  skims  through  beautiful  narrow  water- 
ways with  islands  and  wooded  points  giving  graceful 
shore  lines  and  towering  snow  mountains  carrying  the 
eye  to  the  blue  vault  above.    Past  Glacier  Island  into  Co- 


To  the  Westward  171 

lumbia  Bay  the  launch  speeds  with  a  view  of  Columljia 
Glacier  said  by  many  to  be  the  most  beautiful  glacier  in 
Alaska.  Thence  the  route  lies  past  Granite  Point,  with 
Fairmount  Island  on  the  left,  and  Kniklik,  a  deserted 
Indian  village,  a  little  silent  collection  of  huts  and  log 
houses  with  a  tiny  Russian  church.  It  brings  pictures  of 
a  strange,  quaint  foreign  life  here  a  century  or  more  ago, 
a  life  that  was  an  unusual  mingling  of  the  Old  World  and 
the  most  primitive  of  the  New. 

But  the  village  and  its  memories  are  soon  left  behind 
and  the  boat  flits  into  picturesque  Esther  Passage  with 
high  enclosing  mountains  and  then  out  into  the  broad, 
shining  waters  of  Port  Wells. 

Port  Wells  is  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  long  and 
ten  miles  wide.  The  mountain  walls  rise  steeply.  Bays 
and  inlets  lure  on  each  side  but  a  richer  feast  waits,  and 
on  the  boat  speeds  to  Harriman  and  College  Fiords  at 
the  northern  end  where  the  magnificent  scenery  lies. 

On  all  sides  are  towering  mountains  capped  and  cloaked 
with  ice  and  snow,  with  glaciers  sweeping  down  their 
sides  through  gorge  and  ravine.  Rushing  waterfalls  are 
everywhere  and  the  sound  of  their  waters  and  the  cracking 
of  the  bergs  as  they  break  from  the  glacial  ice  walls  fill 
the  air.  The  water  is  dotted  with  these  stately  bergs 
slowly  moving  to  sea,  some  as  high  as  four  and  five  story 
buildings,  fantastic  in  shape,  wondrously  blue  and  glitter- 
ing in  the  sun  like  millions  of  diamonds.  When  a  glacier 
breaks  and  a  berg  takes  its  plunge  the  water  boils  like  a 
Niagara  and  great  waves  rush  shoreward  setting  the 
other  bergs  to  dancing  and  shining  with  even  greater 
radiance  as  they  dip  and  sparkle  in  the  sunlight  and  water. 

Wild  life  is  abundant.  Waterfowls  of  all  kinds  are 
everywhere.  Ducks  contentedly  float  on  the  waves  or  fly 
in  great  flocks  low  over  the  water.    At  one  point  is  a  great 


172        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

rock  where  high  above  the  waters  the  gulls  in  countless 
thousands  make  their  home.  The  Indians  come  here  for 
the  eggs.    Fish  are  plentiful. 

But,  after  all,  it  is  the  scenery  that  holds  the  gaze. 
College  Fiord  stretches  before  one  twenty-four  miles  long 
and  two  to  three  miles  broad,  sombre  in  the  shadow  of 
its  steep  mountain  walls  yet  impressive  in  its  stern  beauty. 
At  the  head  lie  Yale  and  Harvard  Glaciers  and  on  its 
western  side  eight  others,  all  named  after  our  colleges  — 
Radcliffe,  Baltimore,  Smith,  Bryn  Mawr,  Vassar,  Welles- 
ley,  Barnard,  Holyoke.  In  cascading  ice  falls,  in  great 
ice  cliffs,  in  gentler  winding  ice  streams  with  great  circles 
of  snow  mountains  for  background,  with  bare  peaks,  gray 
granite  cliffs  and  tongues  of  spruce  and  hemlock  here  and 
there  in  near-by  ravines  about  them,  they  come  down  and 
break  in  ice  walls  from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  high  at  the  water's  edge.  The  surrounding 
mountains  are  eight  thousand,  nine  thousand  and  ten 
thousand  feet  high,  hoary,  majestic  peaks  that  fill  in  the 
background  on  all  sides. 

Harriman  Fiord  is  on  the  same  order,  only  perhaps 
not  quite  so  long,  and  with  not  quite  so  many  glaciers. 
But  its  enclosing  walls  are  three  thousand  to  four  thou- 
sand feet  high,  and  it  is  a  place  of  unspeakable  grandeur 
and  sublimity. 

The  trip  is  easily  taken  from  Valdez  and  one  can  bring 
a  little  camping  outfit  and  camp  anywhere  along  the 
shore  at  little  cost.  Firewood  is  plentiful,  fish  and  game 
abound,  and  boats  will  bring  supplies  or  pick  one  up  when- 
ever desired. 

The  return  can  be  made  to  Valdez  or  the  trip  can  be 
continued  through  winding  waterways  and  past  islands 
and  capes,  for  Prince  William  Sound  is  crowded  with 
islands  to  Seward,  the  coast  terminus  of  the  government 


To  the  Westward  173 

railroad  and  on  around  into  Cook  Inlet  and  up  to  Anchor- 
age where  are  located  the  headquarters  of  the  Alaska 
Engineering  Commission  that  has  the  building  of  the 
government  railroad  in  charge.  The  trip  is  in  every  part 
interesting  and  beautiful,  full  of  glorious  scenery  and 
touching  closely  upon  the  early  Russian  history  of  Alaska. 

South  from  the  Kenai  Peninsula,  which  is  skirted  in 
this  trip,  is  the  Kodiak  group  of  islands,  and  westward 
from  these  the  Alaska  Peninsula  and  the  Aleutian  Is- 
lands. The  Aleutian  Islands  alone  extend  some  twelve 
hundred  miles  westward  from  the  Alaskan  Peninsula. 
From  this  it  can  be  judged  what  an  area  this  little  known 
"  westward  "  part  of  Alaska  covers. 

The  name  Kodiak  is  generally  accepted  to  mean  the 
island  and  the  little  town  that  are  so  called  but  originally 
the  name  was  applied  to  the  archipelago  which  includes 
Kodiak  Island,  Afognak,  and  some  others.  The  name  as 
used  by  the  Russians  was  Kadiak  from  the  Indian  word 
Kaniag,  meaning  island,  though  other  authorities  give 
the  Indian  name  as  Kikhtak.  Kadiak  is  still  used  by 
some,  though  Kodiak  is  the  one  most  frequently  heard. 
Since,  however,  Kadiak  was  the  earlier  usage  and  seems 
to  be  nearer  the  Indian  name,  it  would  seem  as  if  it  were 
the  better  one  to  adopt. 

On  some  of  the  islands  there  is  quite  a  bit  of  spruce 
timber.  The  shore  line  in  many  places  consists  of  high 
bluffs  with  pinnacles  or  needle  rocks  on  many  points  ex- 
tremely picturesque  in  effect.  But  Kodiak  itself  has 
little  of  this  character.  The  eastern  half  of  the  island  is 
v/ooded  and  there  are  some  mountains.  But  the  land- 
scape in  the  main  is  composed  of  gently  rounded  hills 
covered  with  grass.  If  the  name  Emerald  Isle  had  not 
already  been  preempted  it  would  aptly  apply,  for  many 
v^orld  travellers  say  the  hills  here  are  the  greenest  they 


174        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

have  ever  seen.  Some  have  called  Kodiak  a  lyric,  it  is 
such  a  remote  secluded  bit  of  pastoral  beauty  with  its 
quiet,  primitive  life,  the  billows  of  green  sweeping  to 
the  hill  tops  and  the  wide  grass-grown  streets,  the  simple 
homes,  the  quaint  Greek  church  of  the  town.  John  Bur- 
roughs says  it  is  one  of  the  fairest  sights  the  world  has 
to  offer.  It  is  a  bit  of  the  Old  World  that  few  know 
dropped  down  in  this  far-away  corner  of  the  New,  and 
so  little  has  modern  life  touched  it  that  it  is  still  a  mix- 
ture of  the  primitive  and  mediaeval. 

Both  the  island  and  the  town  of  Kodiak  were  settled 
by  the  Russians.  Colonists  were  brought,  forts  and 
houses  built  and  gardens  planted.  Many  of  the  inhabi- 
tants to-day  are  descendants  of  these  early  Russians  and 
the  Russian  language  is  heard  quite  as  much  as  English. 
In  fact,  a  school  teacher  in  a  near-by  settlement  on  the 
Kenai  Peninsula  said  that  when  she  went  there  Russian 
was  the  only  language  spoken.  In  addition  to  the  Rus- 
sians, Kodiak  also  has  a  native  population  and  some 
American  residents  connected  with  the  government  agri- 
cultural station  located  here  and  with  the  fishing  indus- 
tries. 

Many  quaint  Russian  customs  survive.  Holy  Week, 
the  "  Bright  Week  "  in  the  Russian  calendar,  is  a  time  of 
great  festivities.  Natives,  no  matter  how  far  distant, 
hasten  home  for  its  celebration.  There  are  many  relig- 
ious ceremonies  and  processions  brilliant  with  color  and 
gay  with  music.  The  kiss  of  peace  is  exchanged  in  public 
with  enemies  and  old  feuds  are  forgotten. 

Music  and  dancing  are  a  great  part  of  life  here.  The 
people  are  very  proud  of  their  dance  hall  and  it  is  one  of 
the  first  places  shown  the  stranger.  Every  one  comes  to 
the  dances,  from  the  descendants  of  early  Russian  gov- 
ernors to  shy,  quiet  Aleut  maidens  and  young  men.     On 


To  the  Westward  175 

one  side  of  the  hall  the  women  and  girls  sit  and  on  the 
other  the  men  and  boys.  There  is  no  conversation  be- 
tween the  men  and  women  and  no  mingling  as  in  our 
parlors  or  at  our  social  affairs.  The  musicians  suddenly 
begin  playing  at  a  furious  rate,  a  youth  crosses  the  floor, 
inclines  his  head  slightly  before  the  partner  of  his  choice, 
all  follow  suit  and  the  dance  is  on. 

The  luxuriant  grass  of  the  island  makes  it  an  admirable 
place  for  cattle  raising.  So  abundant  is  this  grass  that 
Kodiak  has  been  likened  to  the  "  guinea  grass  "  pastures 
of  the  tropics.  The  island  is  said  to  be  the  equal  of  the 
best  grazing  land  in  the  States.  The  natives  have  an 
ingenious  labor-saving  method  of  harvesting  it.  When 
cut  on  the  mountain  side,  for  it  grows  to  the  tops  of  the 
low  mountains,  it  is  done  up  in  bundles  in  fish  nets  and 
sent  rolling  down  the  mountain  side  to  the  bottom  where 
it  is  picked  up  and  taken  home,  often  in  boats. 

Flowers  grow  in  profusion  and  salmon  berries,  high- 
bush  blueberries,  and  other  wild  berries  are  found. 

Westward  from  Kodiak,  across  treacherous  Shelikof 
Strait,  lies  the  Alaska  Peninsula,  a  region  little  developed 
and  little  known.  It  is  rugged,  destitute  of  trees,  and 
the  shore  is  indented  with  countless  bays  and  coves  mostly 
small  and  full  of  rocks.  It  is  not  a  region  to  attract  the 
settler  or  the  miner,  though  for  the  latter  there  is  always 
the  possibility  of  a  strike  in  the  unknown  parts  of  Alaska. 
But  it  is  a  region  to  attract  the  scientist,  for  on  this 
Peninsula  and  the  Aleutian  Islands  is  one  of  the  greatest 
and  least  known  volcanic  regions  of  the  world. 

This  volcanic  zone  really  begins  at  the  head  of  Cook 
Inlet  and  extends  westward  some  sixteen  hundred  miles. 
It  runs  in  two  parallel  ridges,  in  many  places  only  twenty- 
five  miles  apart,  and  in  this  narrow  though  extended  line 
is  almost  every  volcano  that  has  been  active  since  this 


176        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

region  was  known  to  white  men.  There  are  now  about 
sixty  volcanoes  in  this  stretch,  about  forty  of  which  are 
on  the  Alaska  Peninsula,  though  these  figures  cannot  be 
stated  as  absolutely  accurate  since  there  is  yet  but  little 
scientific  exploration  of  this  region.  The  National  Geo- 
graphic Society  has  sent  several  expeditions  here  that  have 
done  excellent  work.  But  the  area  to  be  covered  is  so 
large  and  the  expense  of  a  suitable  expedition  is  so  great 
that  taking  the  region  as  a  whole  little  exact  scientific 
data  is  yet  available. 

On  the  west  coast  of  Cook's  Inlet  before  the  Alaska 
Peninsula  is  reached  are  two  volcanoes.  Mount  Redoubt, 
or  Redoute  as  it  is  variously  spelled,  and  Mt.  Iliamna, 
rising  eleven  thousand  and  twelve  thousand  feet  respec- 
tively. Iliamna  is  a  majestic  cone  soaring  sheer  and 
beautiful  into  the  sky.  Sometimes  it  steams,  the  volcanic 
sand  and  dust  that  pours  out  being  so  black  that  the 
mountain  is  locally  said  to  smoke.  At  the  foot  of  Cook's 
Inlet  is  the  island  of  St.  Augustine,  almost  entirely  a 
single  volcanic  cone  of  striking  grandeur. 

This  volcanic  ridge,  a  great  fissure  or  vent  it  is  supposed 
to  be,  extends  on  down  the  Alaska  Peninsula  where  its 
most  famous  peak  is  Mt.  Katmai.  The  eruption  of  this 
mountain  in  1912  was  the  most  tremendous  volcanic  ex- 
plosion ever  recorded. 

Vesuvius  has  had  its  story  teller.  Because  of  this,  and 
also  because  of  the  suffering  and  loss  wrought,  it  stands 
out  in  the  world's  thought  as  the  historic  disaster  of  this 
kind.  Mt.  Pelee  has  been  largely  forgotten  except  by 
scientists.  But  the  eruption  of  Mt.  Katmai  in  1912  over- 
shadows both  of  these  so  greatly  in  magnitude  that  they 
are  insignificant  beside  it. 

The  explosions  and  the  shocks  threw  men  and  horses 
to  the  ground  four  hundred  miles  away.     It  was  felt  to 


To  the  Westward  177 

the  shore  of  the  Arctic  Ocean.  The  ash  fell  nine  hundred 
miles  away,  and  according  to  scientists  the  fine  dust  went 
into  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere  over  the  whole 
world  and  affected  the  weather  for  the  summer,  being 
the  cause  of  the  cold,  wet  season  of  that  year. 

The  effect  of  the  eruption  is  more  comprehensible,  how- 
ever, if  comparisons  are  made  with  familiar  things.  Pro- 
fessor Robert  F.  Griggs,  who  was  the  leader  of  the  ex- 
pedition sent  by  the  National  Geographic  Society  to  Kat- 
mai  after  the  disaster,  computes  that  the  ashes  that  fell 
buried  an  area  as  large  as  the  State  of  Connecticut  to  a 
depth  varying  from  ten  inches  to  more  than  ten  feet ;  that 
if  Mt.  Katmai  had  been  where  Vesuvius  is,  it  would  have 
buried  Naples  fifteen  feet,  Rome  a  foot,  that  the  sound 
would  have  been  heard  in  Paris,  the  dust  would  have 
fallen  in  Brussels  and  the  fumes  have  been  noticeable  in 
Norway. 

Had  the  eruption  happened  in  New  York  City,  the 
town  would  have  been  smothered  under  ashes  from  ten 
to  fifteen  feet  deep,  the  steam  would  have  been  visible  at 
Albany,  Philadelphia  would  have  been  covered  a  foot  and 
dark  for  sixty  hours,  Washington  and  Buffalo  would  also 
have  received  an  ash  cloak  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  depth 
and  ashes  would  have  fallen  as  far  as  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
The  sound  of  the  explosion  would  have  been  heard  in 
Atlanta,  Georgia,  and  St.  Louis  and  the  fumes  would  have 
been  noticeable  in  Denver,  San  Antonio  and  Jamaica. 

Fortunately,  the  disaster  did  not  occur  in  a  settled 
district.  Kodiak  was  the  chief  sufferer  and  its  green 
beauty  became  a  gray  desert.  Though  one  hundred  miles 
away,  the  island  was  buried  under  ash.  The  roofs  of  the 
houses  were  broken  in  by  the  ashes  that  settled  on  them. 
The  land  was  a  land  of  darkness  and  stifling  fumes  and 
all  the  water  was  poisoned. 


178        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

A  vessel  that  happened  to  be  in  the  harbor  of  Kodiak 
took  the  people  on  board  and  supplied  their  needs  as  best 
it  could  until  a  weird,  gray  dawn  at  last  broke  and  they 
returned  to  their  homes  and  began  the  task  of  rehabilita- 
tion. Many  of  the  cattle  on  the  island  perished  for  there 
was  neither  food  nor  drink.  The  government  experi- 
mental station  shipped  its  herd  to  the  States  until  vege- 
tation again  appeared. 

But  the  greatest  desolation  was  wrought  on  the  Alas- 
ka Peninsula  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  moun- 
tain. The  little  village  of  Katmai  though  five  times  as 
far  away  as  Pompeii  from  Vesuvius  or  St.  Pierre  from 
Mt.  Pelee  was  a  barren  waste.  The  roofs  were  sunken 
in  on  the  houses  and  the  buildings  were  filled  with  pumice. 
The  church  stood  in  a  sea  of  liquid  mud.  Trees  were 
dead.  Pumice  was  everywhere.  To  add  to  the  destruc- 
tion, if  this  were  possible,  a  lake  that  had  been  formed  by 
rubbish  that  had  gathered  across  a  stream  and  dammed 
it,  broke  and  a  flood  swept  down  bringing  boulders  and 
trees  and  leaving  a  great  plain  of  sticky  mud. 

For  several  years  after  the  explosion  columns  of  steam 
a  mile  high  and  a  thousand  feet  in  diameter  poured  from 
other  volcanoes  of  the  group.  New  volcanoes  came  into 
existence  at  the  time.  Katmai  itself  really  blew  its  head 
off  and  is  to-day  but  a  stub  of  what  it  was  before  the  ex- 
plosion. The  force  of  the  explosion  right  at  the  peak  was 
so  great  that  rocks  were  literally  blown  to  pieces  and  the 
lava,  was  so  charged  with  gas  it  became  steam. 

To-day  it  is  doubtful  if  there  is  such  unusual,  spectacu- 
lar and  magnificent  scenery  elsewhere  in  the  world  though 
it  may  not  be  wise  to  speak  of  anything  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Katmai  as  being  of  a  permanent  nature  for 
m  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  it  may  all  be  changed.  But 
as  it  stands  at  present,  the  region  is  a  remarkable  spec- 


To  the  Westward  179 

tacle  of  mud  plains,  ash  slides  a  thousand  feet  high, 
colored  can3^ons,  steaming  vents,  smoking  valleys,  ravines 
filled  with  bright  red  mud,  and  crowning  all,  great  snow 
peaks. 

The  crater  itself  is  worth  going  far  to  see.  It  is  an 
enormous,  infinitely  deep  cavity,  part  of  its  floor  a  won- 
drous blue-green  lake,  part  of  it  fields  of  sulphur,  part  of 
it  fields  of  snow.  Thousands  of  jets  of  steam  issue  with 
a  roar  from  cracks  and  crevices,  rising  sometimes  several 
thousands  of  feet  high.  Despite  the  heat  the  snow  in  the 
crater  is  not  melted.  To  gaze  into  this  great  depth,  yellow 
and  white  and  green  and  blue,  circled  with  its  columns  of 
snowy,  roaring  steam,  is  to  lose  all  sense  of  familiar 
mother  earth  and  to  seem  to  be  on  another  planet. 

Equally  unusual  and  spectacular  is  a  great  valley 
stretching  as  far  as  the  eye  can  see,  filled  with  thousands 
of  little  volcanoes.  Through  the  unbroken  ground, 
through  deep  holes,  through  fissures  pour  jets  of  steam, 
some  small,  some  rising  in  columns  a  thousand  feet  high. 
The  whole  great  valley  is  filled  with  these  jets  of  steam 
soaring  to  heaven  in  snowy  beauty.  It  has  been  called  the 
Valley  of  Ten  Thousand  Smokes. 

More  natural,  but  very  beautiful,  is  a  canyon  several 
thousand  feet  deep  with  faintly  green  rock  walls  on  one 
side,  rich,  mahogany-hued  bluffs  on  the  other,  and  tower- 
ing above  and  back  of  these  sheer  cliffs,  snow  peaks, 
glaciers,  snow  fields  and  waterfalls.  It  is  the  Grand  Can- 
yon of  the  Colorado  and  the  Canadian  Rockies  combined. 

If  this  region  remains  as  it  is  and  can  be  made  more 
accessible  for  the  tourist  it  has  for  him  beauty  of  most 
unusual  order  and  scientific  interest  of  a  rare  kind. 

On  beyond  the  Alaska  Peninsula  stretch  the  Aleu- 
tian Islands,  also  volcanic  though  in  not  so  spectacular  a 
fashion  as  at  Katmai. 


180        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Unimak  Island,  the  most  easterly  of  the  Aleutians,  has 
two  volcanoes,  Mt.  Shishaldin  and  Mt.  Pogrumnoi.  Shi- 
shaldin  is  between  eight  and  nine  thousand  feet  high  and 
in  its  graceful  curving  sides,  pure  cone-shaped  peak  soar- 
ing into  the  sky  and  slowly  drifting  veil  of  steam  which 
is  almost  always  to  be  seen  floating  from  its  top,  rivals 
the  famous  Fujiyama  for  beauty. 

Unimak  is  the  scene  of  the  most  frequent  volcanic 
activity  in  Alaska.  Whole  ridges  of  mountain  peaks 
split  and  open  and  emit  flames,  lava  and  ashes.  The 
Russian  missionary  Veniaminof  in  describing  an  eruption 
on  Unimak  says,  "  There  was  a  prolonged  subterranean 
noise  like  terrific  cannonading,  then  a  low  ridge  to  the 
northeast  opened,  and  flames  and  black  ashes  poured  out. 
The  ice  and  snow  on  the  mountain  melted  and  descended 
in  terrific  torrents  five  to  ten  miles  wide." 

Beyond  Unimak  are  a  few  small  islands  and  then  comes 
Unalaska.  Here  are  two  volcanoes,  but  they  are  not 
active.  Even  from  the  first  coming  of  the  Russians  they 
have  shown  no  signs  of  life  except  that  occasionally  one 
has  steamed  a  little. 

Off  the  northwest  shore  of  Unalaska,  however,  has 
been  unusual  volcanic  activity,  for  here  the  Bogoslof 
Islands,  composed  entirely  of  volcanic  rock,  rose  out  of 
the  sea.  A  lone  peak  was  here  in  Captain  Cook's  time, 
who  called  it  Ship  Island.  In  1796  the  natives  on  Una- 
laska saw  what  looked  like  a  fog  about  this  rock  and  one 
Indian  more  courageous  than  the  others  put  out  in  his 
boat.  He  soon  returned  in  terror  and  said  that  the  sea 
all  about  the  rock  was  boiling  and  that  what  had  been 
thought  to  be  fog  was  the  steam  from  it.  Later  a  consid- 
erable mass  of  rock  upheaved  and  the  major  part  of  the 
present  island  was  formed.  The  Russians  gave  it  the 
name  of  loanna  Bogoslova,  St.  John  the  Theologian,  be- 


To  the  Westward  181 

cause  the  upheaval  occurred  on  this  saint's  day  in  the  Rus- 
sian calendar.  The  name  has  been  retained  except  that 
it  has  been  shortened  to  Bogoslova  or  Bogoslof  Islands. 
In  1883  more  land  rose,  some  parts  being  three  hundred 
feet  high,  accompanied  by  dark  clouds  of  dust  that  drifted 
over  Unalaska  and  fell  in  showers  of  volcanic  ash.  In 
1903,  Fire  Island  came  out  of  the  water.  In  1906,  an- 
other island  rose  to  a  height  of  three  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  feet  but  before  it  had  cooled  it  sank  with  a  loud 
explosion. 

But  one  must  not  think  the  Aleutian  Islands  are  con- 
tinually spitting  fire  and  smoke.  Though  they  have  their 
occasional  pyrotechnic  displays,  though  many  are  rocky 
and  barren  with  sheer  bluffs  rising  three  hundred  and  four 
hundred  feet,  others  are  flat,  covered  with  grass  and 
sheets  of  wild  flowers  in  the  summer  and  are  the  seat  of 
fishing  and  other  industries.  To  the  south  of  the  Aleu- 
tian Islands  are  the  great  cod  banks,  and  cod  fishing  is  one 
of  the  occupations  of  the  people.  Salmon  is  also  caught 
and  salted  and  there  are  some  canneries. 

Unalaska  is  the  most  important  island  of  the  group. 
It  is  some  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  long  and  forty 
miles  broad  and  has  a  deeply  indented  shore  line.  The 
land  is  treeless,  rather  bold  and  rugged,  and  supports  a 
good  growth  of  native  grass.  It  has  a  better  climate  for 
haying,  it  is  said,  than  Oregon.  The  cattle  raised  here 
are  fat,  their  meat  is  tender,  and  they  give  an  abundance 
of  milk. 

The  principal  settlements  are  Unalaska  and  Dutch 
Harbor,  which  though  spoken  of  separately  are  practi- 
cally one,  for  they  are  only  about  half  a  mile  apart.  Here 
are  the  customs  house,  Russian  Greek  church,  a  Methodist 
mission,  a  native  school  and  the  houses  of  the  little  col- 
ony that  make  their  home  here.    The  place  is  also  head- 


182        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

quarters  for  the  fleet  of  revenue  cutters  that  patrols 
Bering  Sea  to  protect  the  seals. 

Dutch  Harbor,  which  was  so  named  because  a  Dutch 
vessel  was  the  first  to  enter  it,  is  one  of  the  finest  harbors 
of  the  North.  Naval  authorities  say  it  could  be  easily- 
fortified  and  made  another  Gibraltar  and  as  such  would 
be  of  value  in  protecting-  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines.  It 
would  also  make  an  excellent  coaling  station  and  with 
Alaska's  coal  fields  opened  and  with  a  trade  from  Seattle 
to  Siberia  passing  this  way,  for  hither  lies  the  shortest 
route,  it  would  soon  become  an  important  seaport  of  the 
North. 

Unalaska  was  an  important  settlement  during  the  Rus- 
sian occupancy,  for  it  was  the  first  colony  reached  from 
Kamchatka  and  boats  put  in  here  to  be  repaired  and  to 
bring  the  supplies  the  colony  always  so  anxiously  awaited. 

During  the  rush  to  Alaska  in  1898  it  had  another  ship 
building  record,  for  here  was  probably  one  of  the  busiest 
shipyards  in  the  United  States  at  this  time.  Lumber, 
machinery  and  other  equipment  for  the  building  of  boats 
were  shipped  here  from  Seattle,  a  corps  of  carpenters  and 
other  mechanics  were  brought  and  here  were  constructed 
the  boats  and  barges  that  plied  on  the  Yukon  during  the 
years  of  the  Klondike  rush.  More  than  a  score  of  boats 
and  barges  were  built  here  during  one  winter. 

The  Aleutian  Islands  in  addition  to  their  fisheries  and 
their  possibilities  of  cattle  raising  have  other  valuable 
assets,  some  of  these  the  result  of  their  volcanic  nature. 
There  is  much  sulphur  on  the  islands,  especially  in  the 
vicinity  of  Dutch  Harbor.  If  business  enterprises  de- 
velop here  as  it  is  expected  they  will,  this  sulphur,  no 
doubt,  will  be  commercially  mined. 

On  Unimak  Island  there  is  said  to  be  a  lake  of  sulphur 
in  solution.     In  Louisiana  a  man  has  made  a  fortune 


To  the  Westward  183 

through  mining  sulphur  by  dissolving  it  and  then  evapo- 
rating the  water.  Some  such  process  could  be  used  here 
at  half  the  cost,  for  the  sulphur  is  already  in  solution. 

Amber  is  found  on  several  of  the  islands,  also  obsidian, 
which  the  natives  use  for  knives,  spears  and  arrow  heads. 
On  one  of  the  islands  is  an  agate  beach  where  these  beauti- 
ful stones  in  colorings  of  pink,  green,  and  yellow  can  be 
gathered  by  the  sackful. 

The  Aleutian  Islands  have  often  been  compared  to  the 
highlands  and  adjacent  islands  of  Scotland  and  it  is  be- 
lieved with  the  stimulation  of  certain  industries  the  Aleu- 
tian Islands  could  as  easily  maintain  a  population  as  do 
these  sections  of  the  Old  World.  In  Iceland  four-fifths 
of  the  population  of  seventy  thousand  derive  their  main- 
tenance from  agriculture  and  from  pasturing  flocks  of 
sheep  and  cattle.  Many  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  are  as 
suitable  as  Iceland  if  not  more  so,  because  of  the  prox- 
imity of  the  Japanese  current,  for  such  industries. 

The  name  given  to  these  islands  is  said  to  come  from 
the  Indian  word  "Aliat"  meaning  an  island.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  the  names  given  by  Indians  were 
almost  without  exception  significant.  We  use  them  with 
little  thought  of  their  meaning  but  when  we  do  recall  the 
Indian  idea  in  them  it  adds  a  distinctive  interest. 

The  name  Catherine  Archipelago  was  given  by  the 
Russians  in  honor  of  Empress  Catherine  II.  But  the 
name  Aleutian  began  gradually  to  be  applied  to  some 
parts  of  the  group  and  gradually  was  extended  to  all. 

The  whole  chain  comprises  an  almost  innumerable  num- 
ber of  islands,  but  those  best  known  consist  of  four  groups 
—  the  Fox  Islands,  to  which  Unimak  and  Unalaska  be- 
long; the  Andreanof  or  Andreanofski,  named  for  their 
discoverer,  to  which  belongs  Atka;  the  Rat  Islands;  and 
the  Near  Islands,  in  which  group  is  Attu. 


184        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


Unimak  Pass,  the  best  passage  to  Bering  Sea,  lies  be- 
tween Unimak  Island  and  Akun  Island.  It  is  some  two 
miles  in  width  and  makes  a  noble  entrance  to  the  waters 
beyond.  Forbidding  and  tremendous  masses  of  rock 
absolutely  without  vegetation  or  sign  of  life  loom  on  each 
side. 

"  A  lonely  land  where  no  man  comes, 
Nor  has  come  since  the  making  of  the  world," 

some  one  writes  of  it,  as  descriptive  of  the  sense  of  lone- 
liness and  desolation  it  gives. 

North  of  Aleutian  Islands  in  Bering  Sea,  but  not  be- 
longing to  them,  are  the  Pribilof  Islands,  named  for  their 
discoverer,  Gerassim  Prybilof.  The  group  consists  of 
four  small  islands,  St.  Paul,  St.  George,  Walrus  and  Bear. 
To  the  north  of  these  is  the  St.  Matthew  group,  consisting 
of  St.  Matthew,  Pinnacle  and  Hall.  On  these  islands  are 
the  seal  herds  now  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States  government.  These  islands  are  little  more  than 
rocks  and  sand,  with  small  settlements  of  natives  and  gov- 
ernment officials. 

Still  farther  north  is  St.  Lawrence  Island,  low  with 
some  prominent  hills,  and  with  a  native  settlement;  and 
still  northward  in  Bering  Sea  are  the  Diomede  Islands, 
two  small  islands  between  which  passes  the  boundary  line 
between  Russia  and  America. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  Bering  Sea,  near  the  mainland, 
is  Nunivak  Island,  a  large  island  somewhat  wooded  and 
with  many  high  hills.  The  natives  of  this  island  are 
known  for  the  beauty  of  their  ivory  weapons  and  the  grace 
and  good  workmanship  of  their  boats. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

FROM     FAIRBANKS    TO     NOME    VIA    THE    YUKON 

The  lower  Yukon  and  its  history.      Ruby.     Nulato  and 

ITS   TRAGEDY.     ThE  WESTERN   UnION  TELEGRAPH   EXPEDITION. 

St.  Michael.  Nome,  its  golden  sands  and  the  stam- 
pede IN  1899.  The  Seward  Peninsula  and  its  resources. 
Life  in  this  part    of   the   world.     The  great    annual 

DOG   RACE   known   AS   THE  ALASKA    DeRBY. 

Another  part  of  Alaska  that  has  had  its  gold  romance 
is  Nome  and  the  Seward  Peninsula.  This  section  of 
Alaska  came  upon  the  world's  horizon  in  '98  and  '99  and 
held  a  prominent  place  there  for  several  years.  But  though 
it  was  much  discussed  and  much  written  about  and  though 
thousands  visited  it,  the  impression  then  and  the  impres- 
sion now  is  that  it  is  a  far  northern  section  of  Alaska,  cold, 
dreary,  uninhabitable.  Whereas  the  fact  is  that  Nome  is 
in  about  the  same  latitude  as  Fairbanks  and  but  little 
above  that  of  Dawson.  The  people  of  Nome  have  their 
gardens  in  the  summer  and  the  tundra  glows  with  wild 
flowers.  The  region  is  west  rather  than  north.  Cape 
Prince  of  Wales,  its  westernmost  point,  is  three  hundred 
miles  west  of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  The  fact  that  Nome 
is  on  Bering  Sea  is  probably  the  cause  of  this  wrong 
impression,  for  to  many  the  very  name  of  Bering  Sea 
brings  visions  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  the  North  Pole, 

Nome  can  be  reached  by  two  routes.  Both  have  feat- 
ures of  interest.  One  is  by  way  of  Skagway,  the  White 
Pass  and  down  the  Yukon,  the  other  by  steamer  direct 
from  Seattle.  Many  who  come  down  the  Yukon  take 
the  trip  up  to  Fairbanks  to  see  this  interior  city  of  Alaska 

185 


186        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

and  then  return  to  the  Yukon  and  continue  the  journey  to 
its  mouth. 

Scenically  the  lower  Yukon  is  not  so  beautiful  as  the 
upper  river,  but  historically  it  is  considered  by  many  to 
be  more  interesting.  The  Russians  penetrated  the  lower 
Yukon  and  built  their  forts  at  various  places  along  it. 
Some  of  these  were  the  scenes  of  conflicts  with  the  natives. 
Early  exploring  expeditions  toiled  up  it,  for  in  the  early 
days  it  was  a  river  of  mystery.  Few  of  the  first  settlers 
at  its  mouth  or  those  who  ascended  it  some  distance 
thought  this  mighty  stream  was  the  same  one  that  Hudson 
Bay  agents  spoke  of  in  their  reports  to  headquarters  and 
called  the  Yukon.  The  Russians  called  it  Kwikpak  or 
Quikpak,  an  Eskimo  name  given  to  the  mouth  most  used. 

If  those  who  come  down  the  river  from  White  Horse 
go  to  Fairbanks  they  leave  the  Yukon  at  Tanana  and  re- 
turn to  it  at  this  point  for  their  further  journey.  H  they 
do  not  go  to  Fairbanks,  they  continue  on  down  from  here. 
In  either  case,  boats  are  changed  at  Tanana,  as  the  lower 
river  steamers  do  not  go  beyond  this  point. 

The  boat  speeds  down  the  Yukon,  for  the  current  is 
swift.  The  banks  are  wooded  and  the  scenery  pleasing. 
Kokrines,  named  for  a  Russian  who  first  settled  here,  is 
one  of  the  stopping  places  along  this  stretch  of  the  river. 
It  is  little  but  a  native  village,  a  trading  post,  a  church. 
and  a  government  school. 

The  first  important  settlement  is  Ruby,  which  is  built 
on  ground  running  up  rather  sharply  from  the  river  bank 
and  with  mountains  beyond  that  gradually  rise  into  dome- 
shaped  peaks  twelve  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  feet  high. 
The  town  is  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles  below 
Tanana,  and  the  name  is  taken  from  that  of  a  small  creek 
on  which  gold  was  first  found.  Hie  strike  was  made  in 
1907,  and  miners  came   from  Fairbanks,  Rampart  and 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    187 


nearly  all  near-by  mining  districts.  Gold  was  found  on 
several  of  the  creeks  back  in  the  hills,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, a  mining  town  started.  It  is  now  quite  one  of  the 
largest  settlements  on  this  part  of  the  river,  with  stores, 
hotels,  restaurants,  and  homes. 

The  scenery  as  the  steamer  glides  on  is  pleasantly  rest- 
ful. It  has  little  of  the  rugged  beauty  of  the  stretches 
farther  north  but  it  has  the  charm  of  broader  waters,  and 
gentler  shore  lines.  At  times  the  banks  rise  in  steep  bluffs 
as  of  old  but  the  general  tendency  is  to  softer  outlines. 
Wooded  islands  dot  the  waters,  adding  a  note  of  the  pic- 
turesque. Toward  the  mouth  of  the  Koyukuk  a  high  bluff 
appears  that  is  quite  a  landmark.  On  it  is  a  cross  for  a 
Roman  Catholic  archbishop  murdered  in  this  vicinity  and 
the  bluff  is  known  as  the  Bishop's  Mountain.  The  Koyu- 
kuk River,  which  joins  the  Yukon  here,  is  one  of  its  large 
and  important  tributaries. 

Below  the  Koyukuk  is  one  of  the  most  historic  trading 
posts  on  the  river,  Nulato.  The  Russians  established  a 
post  here  in  1838  which  was  burned  by  the  Indians  as  was 
also  another  built  the  following  year  in  its  place.  But  in 
1841,  Zagoskin  came  with  a  number  of  Russians,  erected 
another  fort  and  placated  the  Indians  with  gifts  and  for 
a  number  of  years  the  Russians  carried  on  a  good  trade 
here  with  the  natives.  Zagoskin  it  was  who  said  the 
Yukon  was  not  navigable  above  Tanana. 

In  1851  Lieutenant  Barnard  of  H.  M.  S.  Enterprise 
arrived  at  Nulato  in  search  of  information  regarding  Sir 
John  Franklin.  Barnard  had  heard  a  report  that  en- 
couraged him  to  believe  Franklin's  party  might  have 
found  a  route  over  the  mountains  from  the  Arctic  and  he 
thought  he  might  get  some  news  from  the  Indians  of  this 
vicinity.  He  was  a  blunt  Englishman  unused  to  Indian 
ways  and  he  remarked  in  the  presence  of  some  natives 


188        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


that  he  intended  to  "  send  "  for  the  chief  of  a  certain 
tribe  to  see  if  he  could  get  the  information  he  needed.  The 
chief  in  question  was  near-by  with  a  band  of  Indians. 
Though  savages  from  a  civihzed  point  of  view,  the  In- 
dians have  a  certain  ceremonious  etiquette  in  regard  to 
meetings  and  visits.  This  chief  in  particular  being  a  man 
of  importance  among  the  tribes,  was  not  accustomed  to 
being  sent  for,  and  when  the  remark  was  repeated  to 
him  he  was  highly  offended.  He  consulted  the  medicine 
men  of  his  tribe,  and  though  at  that  time  a  better  feeling 
in  general  prevailed  than  had  in  the  past,  the  Indians  still 
felt  that  the  encroachments  of  the  white  men  boded  them 
no  good,  and  the  medicine  men  in  particular  were  glad 
of  an  opportunity  to  make  trouble.  They  advised  the 
chief  to  resent  this  slur  upon  his  dignity,  go  to  the  post 
and  demand  an  apology  and  satisfaction. 

The  matter  would  probably  have  ended  amicably  if  at 
this  juncture  a  Russian  with  an  Indian  companion  had 
not  appeared  with  the  demand  for  the  chief  to  come  to  the 
post.  Both  were  murdered  and  it  is  said  the  flesh  of  the 
Russian  was  roasted  and  eaten.  The  Indians  then  de- 
scended upon  the  post,  murdered  the  people  there,  includ- 
ing Lieutenant  Barnard.  When  the  news  reached  a  post 
down  the  river  through  some  who  escaped,  a  rescuing 
party  was  sent.  But  it  arrived  too  late  to  be  of  assistance. 
The  dead  were  buried  and  over  the  grave  of  Lieutenant 
Barnard  was  erected  a  simple  cross  with  the  inscription : 

Lieutenant  J.  J.   Barnard 
Of  H.  M.  S.  Enterprise 

Killed  Feb.  16,  1851 
By  the  Koyukuk  Indians 

Near  the  settlement  is  another  grave  of  note,  that  of 
Robert  Kennicott,  who  was  prominently  identified  with 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    189 

explorations  in  the  Northwest.  In  1861  he  made  his  way- 
overland  by  the  Hudson  Bay  route  to  Fort  Yukon  and  in 
1865  was  given  charge  of  the  expedition  sent  out  by  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  to  survey  a  route  by 
way  of  Alaska  and  Siberia  to  western  Europe.  He  died 
in  Nulato  in  1866  and  a  simple  board  was  erected  to  his 
memory,  reading : 

In  Memory  of 

Robert  Kennicott 

Naturalist 

Who  Died  Near  This  Place 

May  13,  1866,  Aged  Thirty 

This  Western  Union  Telegraph  Expedition  did  much 
for  the  exploration  of  this  part  of  Alaska  and  in  making 
it  better  known  to  the  world.  The  failure  of  the  Atlantic 
cable  in  1858  led  the  company  to  seek  some  other  route 
for  reaching  Europe  and  an  expedition  was  sent  to  see  if 
a  line  could  not  be  established  across  Bering  Sea  and 
Siberia.  The  successful  laying  of  the  cable  in  1866  made 
such  an  attempt  unnecessary  and  the  work  was  abandoned. 
William  Henry  Dall,  who  was  appointed  to  take  charge 
of  the  scientific  corps  after  the  death  of  Kennicott,  made 
exhaustive  studies  of  the  region  and  wrote  voluminously 
of  its  geography,  natives  and  other  matters. 

At  present  Nulato  is  but  a  small  settlement  of  a  few 
houses,  stores,  a  native  school  and  a  telegraph  station. 
Near  Nulato  the  river  narrows  and  bluffs  appear,  but  as 
Kaltag,  the  next  stopping  place,  is  reached,  the  stream 
broadens  and  is  dotted  with  wooded  islands.  Toward  the 
east,  mountains  show  on  the  horizon.  Kaltag  is  the  start- 
ing point  of  a  winter  trail  across  to  Unalaklik,  which 
shortens  the  route  to  Nome  by  five  hundred  miles.  To 
the  coast  by  this  portage  is  some  eighty  to  ninety  miles 
whereas  by  the  river  it  is  six  hundred.    This  trail  is  used 


190        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

in  the  winter  by  all  crossing  to  Nome  and  the  Seward 
Peninsula. 

For  a  long  stretch  now  there  are  few  settlements.  The 
country  is  a  great  unpeopled  wilderness,  but  this  very 
loneliness  and  sense  of  the  primeval  lend  a  pleasure  quite 
as  enjoyable  in  its  way  as  are  the  scenic  and  historic  in- 
terests. 

On  this  stretch  of  the  river  the  Shageluk,  sometimes 
spelled  Chageluk,  slough  leaves  the  Yukon,  wanders  some 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  almost  parallel  and 
empties  into  the  river  again  below  Anvik.  The  islands  in 
the  river  which  break  it  up  into  many  channels  make  it 
difficult  to  discover  the  entrance  to  the  slough. 

Anvik,  the  next  settlement  of  any  importance,  is  rather 
attractively  situated  on  a  steep  wooded  ridge.  A  mission 
of  the  Episcopal  church  is  here  and  the  little  native  settle- 
ment, mission  buildings  and  post  office  make  a  pleasing 
break  in  the  river's  monotony. 

A  low,  timbered  country  with  hills  on  the  horizon  is 
about  all  the  section  has  to  offer  in  the  way  of  scenery 
now,  together  with  the  gradual  broadening  of  the  stream. 

The  next  stopping  place  is  Koserefsky  or  Holy  Cross, 
the  transfer  point  for  the  Iditerod  country  and  a  mission 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  This  is  quite  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  missions  on  the  river.  The  buildings  are 
quite  imposing  and  prettily  situated  near  the  river,  the 
ground  sloping  upward  back  of  them  and  covered  with 
trees.  There  are  a  boarding-school  with  neat  dormitories 
and  pleasant  schoolrooms,  a  church  and  flourishing  gar- 
dens. The  pupils  are  usually  in  uniforms,  and  the  im- 
pression the  little  settlement  creates  is  distinctly  pleasing. 

Farther  down  the  river  is  the  Russian  Mission  or  Ikog- 
mutc.  This  was  established  in  the  early  davs,  but  condi- 
tions in  Russia  in  the  last  few  years  have  not  been  such  as 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    191 

to  aid  Russian  mission  work.  Hence  the  little  post  is  not 
flourishing.  The  Yukon  in  this  stretch  comes  close  to  the 
waters  of  the  Kuskokwim  River.  In  fact  the  distance  be- 
tween the  two  is  only  about  thirty  miles.  The  land  is  low 
and  there  are  many  lakes  so  that  a  portage  across  is  easy 
and  the  Russian  traders  and  natives  in  the  early  days 
often  crossed  here  between  a  post  they  had  established  on 
the  Kuskokwim  and  this  mission  on  the  Yukon. 

There  is  little  of  interest  now  but  the  width  of  the 
river,  for  it  is  no  longer  a  river  but  a  sea.  Andreaf ski,  the 
next  settlement,  has  quite  a  tragic  history.  It  was  built 
by  the  Russians  about  1853  and  at  that  time  consisted  of 
barracks,  a  store,  magazine  and  a  few  other  buildings.  A 
small  Indian  village  was  near  it  but  the  natives  seemed  in 
every  way  friendly.  Two  years  after  it  was  built,  how- 
ever, when  a  number  of  the  garrison  were  away,  the  In- 
dians fell  upon  the  remainder  and  killed  them.  A  little 
Russian  Creole  escaped  and  carried  the  news  to  St. 
Michael.  A  party  started  from  St.  Michael  bent  upon 
revenge.  They  attacked  the  Indian  village  and  in  the 
most  ferocious  manner  slew  every  one  present.  It  is  said 
that  for  many  years  afterwards  the  natives  would  not  pass 
on  the  side  of  the  river  where  the  fort  was,  so  acute  was 
the  memory  of  the  barbarities  of  the  Russian  slaughter. 
The  place  is  chiefly  used  now  in  the  nature  of  a  port,  as 
there  is  none  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  the  steamers 
are  harbored  here  for  the  winter. 

The  country  from  here  is  desolate.  For  a  brief  time  a 
few  low  hills  are  seen,  but  soon  all  is  flat  and  marshy,  the 
land  being  but  a  few  feet  above  the  water.  The  Yukon 
spreads  through  a  labyrinth  of  outlets  into  Bering  Sea 
and  is  heavily  laden  with  silt  and  mud.  No  doubt  the 
land  through  which  it  here  flows  has  been  built  by  the 
earth  it  has  brought  and  will  continue  to  be  built  farther 


192        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

and  farther  out  into  the  ocean.  Bleaching  driftwood  lies 
piled  on  the  flat  shores  or  is  partly  buried  in  the  mud  and 
adds  to  the  dreariness  of  the  scene. 

From  the  mouth  of  the  river  a  short  run  is  made  across 
St.  Michael  Slough  to  St.  Michael. 

St.  Michael  has  few  attractions,  unless  the  wide  sweep 
of  water  in  front  be  one,  or  the  historical  interest  that 
attaches  to  the  place.  It  is  a  small  settlement  consisting 
chiefly  of  storehouses  and  a  hotel,  so  called,  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  those  waiting  for  boats.  Those  coming 
from  the  outside  make  connections  here  with  the  river 
boats  and  those  coming  down  the  river  also  change  here 
to  seagoing  craft.  As  the  arrival  of  all  these  steamers  is 
uncertain  it  is  necessary  to  provide  accommodations.  The 
steamship  companies  endeavor  to  make  close  connections, 
but  travelling  in  Alaskan  w^aters,  whether  coastal  or  in- 
terior, is  extremely  uncertain  and  sometimes  there  is  a 
lengthy  wait  at  St.  Michael  for  the  expected  boat.  There 
is  no  harbor,  and  ocean  going  vessels  anchor  a  mile  or  so 
off  shore  and  barges  transfer  passengers  and  freight  to 
and  from  the  land. 

The  settlement  was  founded  in  1833  by  the  Russians 
and  originally  was  called  Michaeloffsky  Redoubt.  This 
location  was  chosen  because  it  could  be  easily  defended 
against  the  Indians.  There  is  no  growing  timber  on  the 
island  nor  in  the  vicinity  and  the  old  Russian  buildings 
were  made  of  logs  rafted  down  the  river,  hauled  on 
sledges  from  the  interior,  or  brought  from  Sitka  or  Si- 
beria. The  Yukon  brings  down  great  quantities  of  drift- 
wood which  is  a  boon  to  those  living  in  the  timberless 
tracts  of  this  section  for  it  answers  for  firewood  and  for 
building  purposes. 

From  St.  Michael  the  route  to  Nome  lies  across  Norton 
Bay,  an  arm  of  Bering  Sea.     The  steamer  takes  a  direct 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    193 


course  across  the  water  but  the  shore  line  bends  in  and 
on  it  are  various  httle  settlements.  Unalaklik  is  one  of 
these.  This  is  the  ocean  end  of  the  winter  trail  across 
from  Kaltag.  It  is  an  Eskimo  settlement  principally. 
Bluff,  on  the  coast  some  fifty  miles  from  Nome,  is  a 
mining  town,  and  at  one  time  mining  in  the  winter  on 
the  floor  of  Bering  Sea  was  done  near  here.  Shafts  were 
frozen  down  until  the  bottom  was  reached  and  then  the 
sand  was  hoisted. 

This  method  of  mining  is  unique,  but  as  the  floor  of 
Bering  Sea  is  believed  to  contain  much  gold,  this  plan 
for  getting  it  was  resorted  to.  A  shaft  is  cut  down 
through  the  ice  until  unfrozen  water  is  reached.  The 
cold  air  rushing  in,  however,  soon  freezes  this  water, 
when  the  shaft  is  again  cut  downward  until  water  is  once 
more  reached.  This  process  is  repeated  until  a  shaft 
with  solid  walls  of  ice  is  sunk  to  the  sea  floor.  Then 
the  sand  is  lifted  and  the  gold  sluiced  out  in  the  usual 
way. 

The  first  sight  that  is  apt  to  greet  the  gaze  as  Nome  is 
approached  is  Sledge  Island,  a  great  upheaval  of  bare 
rock  that  lies  like  some  giant,  couchant  animal  in  the  road- 
stead. It  was  given  the  name  by  Captain  Cook  because  of 
a  sledge  with  bone  runners  that  was  found  here.  Grim 
and  stark  as  it  looks,  it  at  times  performs  a  friendly  ofiice. 
Nome  has  no  harbor  and  when  a  storm  comes  up  the 
vessels  lying  in  the  roadstead  scurry  for  the  lee  of  Sledge 
Island  for  protection. 

To  those  visiting  it  for  the  first  time,  Nome,  like  Daw- 
son, is  a  place  of  romantic  interest.  But  if  they  came  by 
the  outside  passage  from  Seattle  and  it  is  the  first  Alaskan 
town  to  be  seen,  it  is  apt  to  be  a  keen  disappointment.  For 
Nome,  as  the  steamer  approaches  it,  is  not  attractive. 
Viewed  from  the  water,  it  seems  to  be  a  collection  of 


194        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


small,  mostly  unpainted  buildings  scattered  in  disorderly 
fashion  along  the  waterfront  and  up  over  the  tundra.  But 
the  situation  is  not  without  its  pleasing  lines  and  color, 
especially  if  the  day  is  clear.  Bering  Sea  sweeps  in  here 
in  a  gentle  curve  that  runs  for  possibly  thirty  miles  be- 
tween two  outjutting  points,  Cape  Nome  at  one  end  and 
West  Point  at  the  other.  In  this  little  shallow  bay  lies 
Nome,  the  tundra  climbing  up  gradually  back  of  it  to  a 
low  range  of  hills.  Far  inland  can  be  seen  the  jagged 
peaks  of  the  Sawtooth  Mountains,  sometimes  snow  cov- 
ered. It  is  a  gentle  beauty  with  a  coloring  in  low  tones  of 
slate  and  purple  except  when  Bering  Sea  is  a  vivid  blue 
and  the  peaks  in  the  distance  shine  in  a  robe  of  pure 
white  or  when  one  of  Alaska's  glorious  sunsets  bathes 
the  scene  in  a  flood  of  red  and  gold. 

Landing  at  Nome  is  an  unique  operation.  The  boat 
does  not  go  up  to  a  dock  and  the  passengers  walk  off 
by  the  gang  plank  as  is  the  usual  method.  There  are  no 
piers  of  this  kind  at  Nome.  There  are  large  warehouses 
along  the  waterfront  for  the  storage  of  merchandise,  but 
the  steamers  themselves  do  not  come  within  a  mile  and 
a  half  or  two  miles  of  the  shore.  Passengers  and  freight 
are  taken  ashore  in  lighters  and  small  boats.  If  the  water 
is  smooth  these  are  beached  or  tied  up  to  the  warehouse 
wharf.  If  the  water  is  rough  the  landing  is  made  at  some 
distance  from  the  shore  on  a  small  staging  anchored  in 
the  sea.  Passengers  are  then  loaded  into  a  sort  of  mam- 
moth basket  or  cage  and  swung  by  cable  high  over  the 
waves  in  and  on  to  the  dock.  The  experience  is  not  with- 
out its  thrills  and  is  certainly  new  to  many  travellers.  It 
is  said  that  Snake  River,  which  empties  into  the  sea  at 
the  western  end  of  the  town,  could  be  dredged  and  a  good 
harbor  made  that  would  not  only  reduce  the  cost  of  get- 
ting passengers  and  freight  ashore  at  Nome  but  make  a 


«^B 

1 

^^^^Heljl. 

j 

A  STREET  SCENE,  NOME 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    195 

safe  harbor  for  the  boats.  The  item  of  cost  especially  in 
regard  to  freight  is  great,  for  wages  are  high  in  Alaska. 
The  need  of  a  safe  harbor  is  also  imperative.  Storms 
descend  unexpectedly  at  Nome  and  vessels  in  the  road- 
stead have  no  place  to  go  for  shelter  except  the  lee  of 
Sledge  Island,  which  is  not  exactly  the  sort  that  cautious 
captains  prefer. 

Nome  is  not  large  numerically,  but  it  has  a  number  of 
modern,  prosperous  stores,  several  hotels,  large  ware- 
houses, a  number  of  churches,  a  good  school  and  hospital 
and  telephone  and  wireless  service.  Though  out  of  the 
world  geographically,  it  is  by  no  means  out  of  it  pro- 
gressively. It  has  many  charming  homes,  and  almost 
every  little  house  has  its  garden  where  lettuce,  radishes, 
cabbage,  turnips  and  other  vegetables  flourish.  And 
indoors  and  outdoors,  wherever  flowers  will  grow,  are 
blossoms. 

On  what  is  called  the  sand  spit,  a  stretch  of  beach  be- 
tween Snake  River  and  the  ocean,  is  the  Eskimo  village. 
One  sees  the  natives  here  in  all  stages  of  progress,  from 
the  little  bright-eyed  youngsters  who  go  to  the  native 
school  and  speak  English,  the  courteous  polite  older  boys 
and  girls  who  have  graduated  from  these  schools,  to  the 
old  men  and  women,  blear-eyed  and  dirty,  who  still  cling 
to  native  ways  of  living  and  eating  and  are  anything  but 
pleasant  to  look  upon.  The  village  is  a  combination  of 
frame  houses,  tents,  racks  upon  which  fish  are  drying, 
boats,  dogs  and  smells.  It  is  interesting,  but  not  invit- 
ing. Here  can  be  seen  in  great  numbers  the  oomiak,  the 
Eskimo  boat  made  of  skin.  These  boats  are  pictures  of 
grace  and  lightness,  and  to  see  them  as  they  are  paddled 
away  from  the  shore  filled  with  Eskimos  and  their  be- 
longings on  their  voyage  to  winter  quarters  at  Cape  Prince 
of  Wales  is  a  picture  long  remembered.     The  helpless 


196        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

looking  open  boat,  the  bleak  sea,  the  cheerless,  desolate, 
hard  winter  life  to  which  they  are  going,  the  unrepining 
courage  with  which  they  face  it,  all  make  a  scene  that 
stands  out  vividly  in  recollections  of  Nome. 

The  Nome  shops  are  filled  with  the  handiwork  of  the 
Eskimo,  carved  ivory,  baskets,  beadwork,  moccasins. 
These  natives  meet  you  in  the  street  with  their  wares,  and 
with  a  smile  and  glance  ask  you  to  buy.  They  are  a  pleas- 
ant, friendly  people  given  to  but  few  words  but  their  shy 
smile  and  bright  eyes  have  greater  selling  power  than 
language.  Their  carved  ivories  are  monuments  of  pa- 
tient, tireless  industry  and  of  no  little  artistic  skill.  Crib- 
bage  boards,  paper  knives,  many  kinds  of  small  figures 
ornamented  with  fish,  seal,  and  other  animals  with  which 
they  are  familiar,  are  the  most  popular  pieces.  Some  are 
made  from  old  ivory,  a  soft,  lovely  shade  of  brown.  But 
all  as  specimens  of  the  handwork  and  artistic  faculties  of 
this  primitive  people  are  interesting. 

Nome,  like  other  Alaska  mining  towns,  came  into  being 
with  a  rush.  In  July,  1898,  a  boat  containing  some  pros- 
pectors on  their  way  to  Golovin  Bay  capsized  at  the  mouth 
of  Snake  River.  The  men,  after  drying  out,  prospected  a 
bit  and  found  some  colors,  but  not  equal  to  the  hopes  they 
entertained  of  the  Golovin  Bay  country,  the  reports  of 
which  had  brought  them  to  this  section.  Disappointment, 
however,  met  them  at  Golovin,  and  telling  others  of  their 
find  in  the  Cape  Nome  section,  they  returned.  Many  came 
with  them  and  the  strike  that  eventually  made  this  section 
known  to  the  world  as  a  rich  gold  producing  region  was 
made  in  September  on  Anvil  Creek  near-by.  Although  the 
season  was  late,  the  ground  freezing  and  snow  falling, 
eighteen  hundred  dollars  was  panned  and  rocked  out  in  a 
few  days. 

The  news  spread  to  other  mining  camps,  and  in  the 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    197 


spring  of  '99  miners  came  from  even  far  away  Dawson. 
The  work  so  far  was  only  on  the  creeks.  But,  so  the  story 
goes,  one  of  these  newcomers  had  scurvy  and  went  to  the 
beach  to  take  the  old  time  whaler's  cure  of  sun  and  salt 
water.  He  employed  his  time  in  his  free,  open-air  sana- 
torium in  panning  and  thus  discovered  Nome's  golden 
sands  that  brought  a  rush  of  men  and  women  here  from 
many  parts  of  the  world. 

The  beach  was  "  No  Man's  Land,"  for  the  government 
had  reserved  the  stretch  between  the  sea  and  high  water 
for  wharfage  purposes.  No  claim  could  be  located  on  it, 
but  it  could  be  worked  anywhere  by  any  one.  This 
lack  of  title  or  ownership  led  of  course  to  quarrels  and 
much  disorder  until  the  matter  was  taken  in  hand  by  a 
miners'  meeting  and  the  decision  was  made  that  each  man 
should  have  to  work  as  his  own  as  much  ground  as  he 
could  reach  with  his  shovel  from  the  edge  of  the  hole 
where  he  was  digging. 

But  the  news  of  this  public  instead  of  private  ownership 
of  the  land  and  of  the  fact  that  the  gold  could  be  easily 
washed  out  because  of  the  abundance  of  water  right  at 
hand  made  many  believe  that  fortunes  could  be  made 
over  night,  and  not  only  brought  a  tremendous  number  of 
people  but  they  were  in  many  cases  less  fitted  both  as  to 
experience  and  supplies  than  is  the  usual  stampeder  to  a 
gold  camp.  In  contrast  to  this  class  were  many  who,  be- 
cause the  gold  was  to  be  taken  from  beach  sand  without 
the  necessity  of  digging  shafts,  clearing  away  rocks  and 
mining  in  the  customary  fashion,  had  brought  all  sorts  of 
strange  devices  for  securing  the  gold  more  quickly  than 
by  panning  or  rocking. 

As  a  result,  within  a  few  months  fifteen  thousand 
people  with  all  sorts  of  machinery  overflowed  the  place. 
The  beach  was  a  scene  of  inextricable  confusion.    There 


198        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

were  no  wharves  or  docks  and  in  among  the  workers  and 
their  contraptions  were  piled  thousands  of  tons  of  freight. 
Far  up  the  beach  it  was  jumbled.  Everything  was  in  an 
appalling  state  of  confusion.  Machinery,  all  sorts  of  sup- 
plies, hay,  lumber,  grain,  hardware,  provisions,  liquor, 
tents,  stoves,  pianos,  sewing  machines,  mirrors,  bar  fix- 
tures, anything  and  everything,  was  thrown  here  regard- 
less of  weather  or  damage.  Transportation  along  the 
beach  was  by  wagon  and  ten  dollars  an  hour  was  exacted 
and  a  wagon  could  only  haul  a  few  hundred  pounds  at  a 
snail's  pace,  or  by  launch,  for  which  five  hundred  dollars 
a  day  was  charged.  To  get  one's  goods  out  of  this  con- 
fusion and  away  to  a  place  of  storage  was  a  slow  and 
costly  proceeding. 

In  some  cases  fortunes  were  quickly  made.  Two  men 
rocking  three  days  cleaned  up  nearly  four  thousand  dol- 
lars. Gold  to  the  value  of  two  million  was  extracted  in 
a  short  time.  One  man  made  quite  a  bit  in  an  unusual 
way.  He  had  shrewdly  brought  with  him  two  dilapidated 
rockers  which  he  had  bought  from  Eskimos  at  St. 
Michael  for  twenty-five  cents  each.  Lumber  in  Nome  was 
scarce  and  many  of  the  stampeders  had  no  rockers.  In- 
stead of  working  the  beach  himself  he  rented  the  rockers 
on  a  royalty  basis  of  fifty  per  cent  and  in  less  than  two 
weeks  had  realized  almost  three  thousand  dollars. 

Of  course  the  sands  were  soon  exhausted  and  the  min- 
ers spread  back  into  the  hills  and  out  into  other  parts  of 
Seward  Peninsula  and  other  gold  discoveries  were  made. 
A  few  years  later  a  rich  strike  was  made  near  Anvil 
Mountain,  a  low  peak  a  few  miles  from  Nome  and  so 
named  because  a  rock  on  its  summit  resembles  an  anvil. 
This  find  alone  in  one  year  yielded  a  million  dollars.  Most 
of  the  creeks  in  this  section  have  made  rich  returns.  A 
mining  expert  has  said  that  within  the  range  of  vision 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    199 


from  Anvil  Mountain  is  a  richer  placer  gold  area  than 
is  to  be  found  elsewhere  in  the  world. 

The  region  about  Nome  is  now  looked  upon  as  one  of 
Alaska's  permanent  gold  areas.  Both  the  individual  min- 
ers and  large  companies  are  at  work  here,  and  when  other 
developments  come  that  will  make  mining  a  less  costly 
operation  than  it  is  at  present  the  output  from  this  sec- 
tion will  increase.  Both  dredging  and  hydraulicking  are 
done  and  the  headquarters  of  some  of  these  companies 
are  veritable  little  towns.  The  men  are  provided  with 
neat,  comfortable  buildings  for  sleeping,  with  a  big,  well- 
lighted  room  for  reading,  writing  and  recreation.  There 
are  messhouses,  storehouses,  and  buildings  for  the  ma- 
chinery. To  come  upon  one  of  these  places  hidden  in  a 
hollow  or  on  the  banks  of  a  little  creek  on  the  lonely,  des- 
olate tundra  seems  like  going  at  one  step  from  the  pri- 
meval wilderness  to  the  heart  of  civilization. 

A  problem  that  complicates  mining  in  this  section  is 
the  lack  of  water.  The  creeks  are  small  and  in  summer 
often  dry  up.  Snake  River  and  Nome  River,  the  two 
largest  streams,  are  limited  in  the  areas  they  can  serve.  It 
is  impossible  to  mine  without  water.  The  large  companies 
have  built  ditches  to  bring  water  over  miles  of  tundra 
from  the  mountains.  It  takes  capital  to  do  this,  and  so 
the  small  companies  and  the  individual  miner  if  they  can- 
not buy  water  are  hampered  in  their  work  and  their  out- 
put much  curtailed. 

Gold  has  been  found  in  many  other  sections  of  Seward 
Peninsula.  At  Solomon  to  the  east  of  Nome;  at  Coun- 
cil about  eighty  miles  to  the  northeast  in  the  interior;  at 
Teller,  on  the  coast  to  the  northwest;  at  Candle,  across 
the  peninsula  to  the  north  on  Kotzebue  Sound,  an  inlet  of 
the  Arctic  Ocean,  at  all  these  places  the  precious  metal  has 
been  discovered. 


200        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


Teller  has  a  good  harbor,  about  the  only  good  natural 
harbor  on  the  northern  coast  of  Bering  Sea.  Teller  is,  as 
well,  the  gateway  to  the  Kougarok  and  Bluestone  districts, 
in  both  of  which  gold  has  been  discovered.  It  is  a  pictur- 
esque place.  On  the  right  is  a  long,  low  sandspit  and  on 
the  left  the  Cape  York  coast,  where  a  bare,  rough  range  of 
hills  that  drop  off  into  Bering  Sea  mark  the  end  of  the 
great  Rocky  Mountain  system  of  the  western  continent. 

The  discovery  of  gold  at  Candle  is  due,  legend  says,  to 
the  ghost  of  an  Indian  who  sat  or  stood,  data  are  not  ex- 
act, on  the  prow  of  the  prospector's  boat  who  found  the 
gold  and  directed  him  where  to  go.  Whether  the  prospec- 
tor saw  the  Indian's  spirit  or  not  no  one  can  tell,  but  it  is 
known  that  he  put  out  into  Bering  Sea  in  an  open  boat, 
steered  through  Bering  Strait  into  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
thence  into  Kotzebue  Sound  and  made  a  strike  where 
other  prospectors  had  been  several  years  before  and  found 
nothing. 

Some  of  these  districts  on  the  Seward  Peninsula  have 
proven  very  rich.  One  claim  near  Council  yielded  three 
tons  of  gold.  Just  what  wealth  this  section  of  Alaska 
holds,  however,  no  one  can  say.  Mining  at  present  here 
is  under  too  great  handicaps  to  reach  its  fullest  develop- 
ment. There  are  no  railroads  at  present.  There  are  prac- 
tically no  roads.  Near  some  of  the  towns  there  is  a  short 
stretch  of  government  road.  The  rest  is  tundra.  Tundra 
is  a  bog,  a  wet,  mushy  place  of  hummocks  or  "  nigger 
heads  "  and  black  muck.  In  this  horses  and  wagons  mire 
sometimes  every  few  yards.  Transporting  supplies  over 
it  is  a  long  and  costly  process.  Much  of  the  hauling, 
therefore  is  done  in  winter  over  the  snow.  But  all  sup- 
plies must  reach  Nome  in  the  summer,  therefore,  if 
freighted  in  winter  to  the  camps,  they  must  be  stored  and 
thus  handled  twice.     The  cost  of  this  in  addition  to  the 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    201 

cost  of  landing,  clue  to  the  lack  of  harbor  facilities,  makes 
mining  an  extremely  expensive  industry  in  the  Seward 
Peninsula.  Quartz  ledges  have  been  found  and  their  de- 
velopment will  no  doubt  become  one  of  the  permanent 
industries  of  the  section  when  the  cost  of  mining  is 
lowered. 

Other  minerals  have  also  been  discovered.  Among 
them  tin  is  noteworthy.  The  tin  deposits  are  said  to  be 
very  rich.     Silver  and  coal  have  also  been  located. 

All  these  mining  interests  look  to  Nome  as  the  central 
point  for  their  supplies  and  their  means  of  communica- 
tion with  the  outside  world.  This  makes  the  town  a  bus- 
tling little  place.  Small  steamers  go  up  and  down  the  coast 
carrying  provisions  to  the  settlements  along  shore.  Freight 
teams  wind  in  and  out  over  the  tundra  hauling  goods  to 
near-by  camps.  In  the  outskirts,  even  at  times  in  Nome 
itself,  dredges  are  working.  A  few  years  ago  right  on 
Front  Street,  Nome,  a  dredge  was  scooping  up  the  earth, 
washing  out  its  gold,  and  leaving  the  debris  in  unsightly 
tailings  along  its  course.  The  big  warehouse  companies 
are  busy  receiving  and  shipping  goods.  For  all  Nome's 
business  must  be  done  in  a  few  short  months.  The  first 
steamer  arrives  in  the  early  part  of  June,  the  last  one 
leaves  in  October.  Between  these  two  dates  the  business 
of  the  year  with  the  outside  world  must  be  crowded.  In 
October  the  ice  begins  to  come  down  from  the  north.  At 
first  a  few  floating  cakes  are  reported.  Next  the  sea 
takes  on  a  mushy  look.  Then  some  morning,  Nome 
awakes  to  find  itself  locked  in  the  arms  of  a  sea  of  ice, 
and  communication  with  the  outside,  except  by  wireless 
or  dog  team,  is  cut  off  till  spring. 

The  winter  season  is  not  a  dull  time  in  Nome.  Shut  in 
as  the  people  are  and  dependent  upon  themselves  for  en- 
joyment, the  townspeople  are  like  one  big  family.     All 


202        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


sorts  of  entertainments  are  given,  and  there  are  few  days 
without  some  diversion  to  enhven  them.  The  great  event 
of  the  winter  is  the  Dog  Race,  the  Alaska  Derby,  as  it  is 
called,  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Kennel  Club.  For 
the  unexpected  and  exciting  and  as  a  test  of  speed  and 
endurance  it  is  doubtful  if  it  has  its  equal  in  any  sport  in 
the  world.  Over  hundreds  of  miles  of  snow-swept 
wastes  the  route  lies,  between  towering  ice  hummocks 
on  Bering  Sea,  over  wide  plains  of  unbroken  snow,  up 
and  down  steep  hillsides,  through  desolate  valleys  where 
the  fierce  north  wind,  laden  with  fine  particles  of  ice  and 
snow,  sweeps,  over  trackless  and  treacherous  ice  of  rivers 
and  lakes.  Nowhere  else  does  the  world  know  such  a 
race  course. 

The  number  of  dogs  in  the  team  is  optional,  but  be- 
tween ten  and  twenty  is  the  average,  and,  to  prevent 
cruelty,  the  ruling  is  that  every  dog  with  which  the  team 
started  out  must  be  brought  back  dead  or  alive.  The 
sleds  are  made  of  hickory  lashed  with  reindeer  sinews  and 
walrus  hide.  The  only  equipment  is  an  assortment  of 
furs  and  water  bottles  for  the  men,  canton  flannel  moc- 
casins for  the  dogs'  feet,  dark  veils  for  the  eyes  and 
blankets  for  use  in  case  the  wind  is  keen. 

The  dogs  are  not  driven  by  rein  but  by  spoken  order, 
and  an  intelligent  leader  is  a  prime  necessity.  The  driver 
rarely  sits  on  the  sled  but  runs  behind,  jumping  on  and 
off  the  runners  and  pushing  when  necessary. 

The  drivers  can  use  their  own  discretion  as  to  the  num- 
ber and  length  of  stops,  one  of  course  being  stipulated  at 
Candle,  the  end  of  the  first  half  of  the  race,  where  the 
teams  are  examined  and  checked  up  by  the  judges.  When 
resting  the  dogs  are  rubbed  with  alcohol  and  fed  and 
bedded  before  the  men  attend  to  their  own  needs. 

The  food  is  distributed  by  the  commissary  team  con- 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    203 


trolled  by  the  club,  and  is  so  divided  into  separate  allow- 
ances that  no  time  is  lost  in  preparing  and  allotting  it. 
Through  the  year  the  dogs  are  fed  on  a  general  diet  of 
rolled  oats,  dried  salmon,  household  scraps  and  the  flesh 
of  the  white  whale.  But  during  the  race  they  are  given 
chopped  mutton  and  beef  mixed  with  eggs. 

The  purses  are  from  ten  dollars  to  three  thousand  and 
the  course  is  to  Candle  and  return,  a  distance  altogether 
of  four  hundred  and  twelve  miles.  Although  the  race  is 
indulged  in  as  a  sport  and  is  one  of  the  eagerly-awaited 
events  of  the  season,  it  has  its  utilitarian  value.  The 
desire  to  win  the  race  leads  to  efforts  to  improve  the 
breed  of  dogs,  and  helps  instil  greater  intelligence  and 
humanity  in  the  dog  users.  These  results  have  become  so 
marked  that  Nome  dogs  have  become  famous  and  many 
Arctic  explorers  when  they  need  dogs  for  Arctic  travel 
send  to  Nome  for  them. 

The  summer  visitor  to  Nome  does  not,  however,  have 
an  opportunity  to  see  the  dog  race,  though  he  will  hear 
about  it,  see  pictures  of  the  winning  team,  and  perhaps 
see  some  of  the  dogs  themselves.  Nor  does  he  have  a 
chance  to  take  a  sleigh  ride  behind  a  dog  team,  another 
favorite  winter  diversion.  But  he  is  not  cut  off  alto- 
gether from  dog  travelling.  He  may  get  a  chance  to  go 
out  to  the  creeks  by  the  "  pupmobile,"  or  he  may  get  a 
ride  in  a  boat  drawn  by  dogs.    Both  are  exhilarating. 

The  pupmobile  is  a  flat  car  drawn  by  dogs  that  runs  on 
a  narrow  gauge  track  out  over  the  tundra,  to  some  of  the 
creeks.  This  mode  of  travel  is  a  swift  if  somewhat  hap- 
hazard proceeding.  The  dogs  seem  to  look  on  it  as  a 
grand  frolic  and  tear  along  at  a  mad  pace.  If  a  car  is 
seen  coming  in  the  other  direction,  one  removes  his  car 
from  the  track  while  the  other  passes.  Sometimes  when 
going  down  hill  the  dogs  are  loaded  on  the  car. 


204        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

The  trip  by  boat  is  quite  as  exhilarating.  The  boat 
itself,  if  the  work  of  natives,  is  worth  study,  for  it  is 
usually  a  beautiful  bit  of  workmanship.  It  is  of  drift- 
wood fastened  together  with  leather  thongs  and  covered 
with  skin  stretched  so  carefully  and  sewn  so  well  as  to  be 
watertight.  It  is  light  yet  staunch  and  skims  the  water 
like  a  bird. 

You  step  in  carefully,  for  a  boat  of  skin,  no  matter  how 
taut,  seems  frail  in  comparison  with  the  wood  and  steel 
craft  with  which  one  is  familiar.  The  Eskimo  runs  it 
out  to  where  the  water  is  sufficiently  deep  and  climbs  in. 
All  this  time  the  dogs  sit  idly  by  as  if  not  concerned  at 
all  with  what  is  going  on,  but  the  moment  the  boat  reaches 
water  in  which  it  floats  and  swings  around  parallel  to  the 
shore,  they  spring  into  harness,  the  tow-line  connecting 
them  with  the  boat  becomes  taut  and  they  start  off  down 
the  beach.  The  Indian  in  the  bow  of  the  boat  keeps  the 
line  steady,  raising  it  when  necessary  to  insure  clearing 
driftwood,  while  the  man  in  the  stern  steers  the  boat  just 
outside  the  edge  or  wash  of  the  breakers. 

The  voyage  resembles  the  flight  of  a  sea  gull  more  than 
a  boat  trip.  One  moment  the  little  craft  is  lifted  on  the 
crest  of  a  wave  with  what  seems  the  certainty  of  its  being 
dashed  to  pieces  on  the  beach  or  rocks.  The  next  minute 
it  is  down  in  the  trough  of  the  sea  with  nothing  visible 
but  the  waves  and  the  leather  thong  connecting  it  with 
the  shore.  Up  it  comes  again,  this  time  perhaps  riding 
high  above  the  dogs  with  the  tow-line  clear  of  the  water, 
and  one  seems  to  be  flying  through  the  air.  Nothing  is 
heard  but  the  splash  of  the  surf  and  the  occasional  shouts 
of  the  Eskimos.  You  are  twice  glad  on  this  trip,  when 
you  start  and  when  you  stop. 

About  sixty  miles  back  in  the  interior  from  Nome  is 
Hot  Springs.     If  one  has  not  yet  seen  any  of  Alaska's  hot 


From  Fairbanks  to  Nome  Via  the  Yukon    205 

springs,  a  trip  is  worth  while.  It  will  seem  more  novel 
here  perhaps  than  elsewhere,  for  the  change  from  the 
vegetation  of  the  tundra  to  the  green,  luxuriant  growth 
here  affords  more  of  a  contrast  than  it  does  in  some  other 
places  in  Alaska.  Lettuce,  celery,  mushrooms  and  many 
vegetables  flourish  almost  as  well  here  as  in  a  tropic 
garden. 


CHAPTER  XV 

LITTLE  KNOWN  REGIONS  OF  ALASKA 

The  Arctic  Plain  eastward  from  Seward  Peninsula.    The 

KOYUKUK    REGION.      ThE    ChANDALAR,    KoBUK    AND    COLVILLE 

RIVERS.    The  Kuskokwim  country.    Its  agricultural  pos- 
sibilities.   Iditerod  and  its  mining  interests. 

Two  large  regions  of  Alaska  are  as  yet  little  explored. 
One  of  these  is  the  great  Arctic  plain  stretching  eastward 
from  the  Seward  Peninsula  to  the  Canadian  border  and 
from  the  Yukon  River  to  the  Arctic  Ocean.  At  a 
rough  guess  this  vast  region  comprises  about  one-third  of 
Alaska,  yet  it  is  comparatively  unknown.  A  few  Arctic 
explorers  have  been  over  it.  The  Boundary  Commission 
crossed  its  eastern  end.  Prospectors  have  partially  pene- 
trated it  northward  from  the  Yukon.  But,  in  the  main, 
it  still  remains  a  great  unknown  territory,  fascinating 
because  of  the  very  mystery  that  enshrouds  it  and  the 
secrets  it  holds  in  its  bosom. 

Though  more  difficult  to  explore  than  some  parts  of 
Alaska,  it  has  its  advantages.  Supplies  can  be  taken 
easily  and  in  quantity  to  its  very  threshold.  Game  is 
abundant.  In  fact  one  scientist  who  has  made  the  trip 
across  it  says  there  is  sufficient  game,  wild  vegetables  and 
berries  to  sustain  life  and  that  he  could  travel  all  the  way 
from  the  Yukon  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  with 
nothing  but  blanket,  matches,  gun  and  axe.  Vilhjalmur 
Stefansson  has  said,  "  I  have  demonstrated  that  civilized 
man  can  live  on  the  products  of  the  Arctic,  having  on  one 

206 


Little  Known  Regions  of  Alaska  207 

occasion  been  two  years  away   from  supply  ships  and 
living  as  an  Eskimo." 

The  prospector,  however,  is  the  one  who  has  chiefly 
invaded  this  region.  Nothing  daunts  him  when  in  search 
of  gold,  and  from  time  to  time  reports  of  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  this  section  have  come  out  and  miners  have 
made  their  way  thither.  Tiny  mining  settlements  and 
cabins  of  lonely  miners  are  scattered  here  and  there 
through  it,  but  the  mining  is  done  on  a  small  scale  and 
in  the  most  primitive  fashion.  To  the  miner  with  lim- 
ited funds  and  who  cannot  spend  his  time  hunting,  the 
cost  of  getting  in  supplies  for  a  stay  of  any  length  or  of 
bringing  in  machinery  for  mining  in  any  extensive 
fashion  is  prohibitive. 

Several  fair-sized  rivers  find  their  way  through  the 
territory  and  afford  the  easiest  and  cheapest  means  of 
transportation  for  goods.  It  is  on  these  rivers  that  the 
few  settlements  are  located  and  on  them  and  near-by 
creeks  most  of  the  mining  is  at  present  being  carried 
on. 

The  largest  of  these  streams  is  the  Koyukuk  River. 
This  is  some  seven  hundred  miles  long  and  navigable  for 
a  considerable  part  of  the  distance.  It  empties  into  the 
Yukon  at  Nulato  and  here  boats  are  taken  for  the  jour- 
ney up  the  stream. 

The  trip  on  the  lower  part  of  the  river  is  monotonous. 
The  current  is  slack,  the  channel  winding.  The  shores 
are  densely  wooded,  islands  dot  the  water  and  a  lonely, 
dilapidated  cabin  here  and  there  gives  a  note  of  deso- 
lation. Gradually  the  banks  grow  rockier,  mountains 
begin  to  appear  and  the  current  gets  a  bit  swifter.  In 
one  place  are  rapids  to  which  the  miners  making  their 
way  up  the  river  in  small  boats  have  given  the  expressive 
name  of  the  "  Measly  Chute."     At  Allakaket,  one  of  the 


208        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


principal  settlements,  is  a  high  bluff  from  which  extends 
a  plateau.  In  the  old  days  this  was  a  meeting  place 
for  the  Indians  for  trading  purposes.  This  high,  open, 
flat  stretch  was  chosen  as  it  prevented  ambuscades,  proof 
that  the  natives  had  no  great  confidence  in  each  other. 
From  here  onward  the  navigation  becomes  increasingly- 
difficult  as  numerous  bars  and  sloughs  appear.  At  last 
Bettles  is  reached,  practically  the  head  of  navigation  and 
the  chief  settlement  of  the  river. 

The  town  is  the  usual  little  mining  community  of  log 
houses,  a  few  stores  and  other  buildings.  Back  of  the 
town  rises  Lookout  Mountain,  so  called  because  from  its 
top  can  be  seen  the  first  steamboat  on  its  way  up  the  river 
in  the  spring,  an  event  as  eagerly  awaited  as  is  the  first 
boat  at  Nome  when  the  ice  breaks  up.  For  this  little 
settlement,  like  Nome,  is  cut  off  from  the  outside  world 
in  winter  except  by  dog  sled,  and  as  it  has  practically  no 
business  interests  to  bring  travellers,  its  visitors  are  few. 
Because  it  is  so  dependent  upon  itself,  it  is  said  to  be  one 
of  the  most  hospitable  camps  in  the  North.  Newcomers 
are  more  than  cordially  welcomed,  and  any  one  coming 
who  is  in  hard  luck  is  told  to  take  a  pan  and  go  out  and 
help  himself. 

From  Lookout  Mountain  can  also  be  obtained  a  good 
view  of  the  surrounding  country,  which  is  somewhat 
timbered  with  spruce.  Lakes  gleam  here  and  there  in 
the  green  setting  and  to  the  north  can  be  seen  the  peaks 
of  the  Endicott  Mountains.  These  mountains  form  the 
watershed  between  the  rivers  on  the  south  and  those  that 
flow  into  the  y\rctic  Ocean.  They  are  broken  by  broad 
passes  and  have  many  valleys.  Some  of  the  peaks  rise 
to  a  height  of  from  seven  to  nine  thousand  feet. 

The  region  is  not  by  any  means  unattractive  and  would 
well  repay  in  picturesque  scenery,  in  the  pleasure  of  fish- 


Little  Known  Regions  of  Alaska  209 

ing  and  hunting,  and  the  zest  of  exploring  the  unknown, 
a  summer's  sojourn. 

Beyond  Bettles  freight  and  supphes  are  sent  on  by- 
horse  scows.  These  are  large  flat  boats  with  an  inter- 
changeable propelling  power  of  gas  engines  and  horses 
as  the  current  permits. 

To  the  northward  from  Bettles,  the  river  divides  into 
various  forks.  On  the  Middle  Fork  the  scenery  is  quite 
picturesque.  The  river  passes  through  a  canyon,  the 
channel  is  narrow,  the  banks  steep,  and  here  and  there  in 
the  stream  are  detached  rock  masses  that  have  been 
eroded  into  the  semblance  of  various  human  figures.  One 
of  these,  because  of  its  likeness  to  a  bishop  in  his  vest- 
ments, has  been  called  Bishop's  Rock.  Another  has  been 
called  the  Squaw  Rock  from  its  resemblance  to  an  Indian 
woman. 

On  this  fork  is  Coldfoot,  said  to  be  so  named  because 
the  miners  who  had  come  this  far  into  the  wilderness 
became  timid  about  going  farther.  It  lies  at  the  base  of 
a  circle  of  rugged  peaks  and  is  little  but  a  roadhouse,  a 
few  stores  and  cabins.  It  is  the  centre  of  a  small  mining 
region,  gold  having  been  discovered  on  several  creeks  in 
the  neighborhood.  It  claims  to  be  the  farthest  north  gold 
mining  town  in  the  world  and  is  at  any  rate  the  most 
northerly  postal  station  in  this  part  of  Alaska,  It  has 
not  the  prosperity  of  its  earlier  days.  The  gold  is  not 
panning  out  as  richly  as  was  expected  and  the  cost  of 
mining  here  is  much  greater  than  in  almost  any  other 
camp  in  Alaska.  It  can  also  be  reached  up  the  Chandalar 
and  thence  by  portage.  But  whichever  route  is  chosen, 
the  journey  means  much  rehandling  of  all  supplies 
brought  in  the  summer  by  boats. 

Across  a  short  portage  from  Coldfoot  are  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Chandalar,  another  stream  of  this  region 


210        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

that  has  its  hire  of  gold  and,  as  a  consequence,  a  few 
mining  camps.  The  name  is  said  to  be  a  corruption  of 
Gens  de  Large,  a  title  given  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
to  a  tribe  of  Indians  who  had  no  permanent  village  but 
lived  in  encampments  along  this  stream.  A  lake  to  the 
eastward  still  retains  this  name. 

The  Chandalar  empties  into  the  Yukon  near  Fort 
Yukon  and  is  navigable  at  its  flood  season  a  short  dis- 
tance for  light  draught  boats,  though  such  navigation  is 
no  easy  matter.  The  banks  are  wooded,  and  as  the  river 
is  ascended  the  scenery  grows  more  attractive.  The  cur- 
rent is  shallow  and  swift.  Here  and  there  are  rapids, 
and  mountains  three  to  six  thousand  feet  high  appear. 
The  river  has  several  forks  but  the  whole  section  of  its 
northern  courses  is  hilly.  This  region  is  a  quartz  country 
but  has  not  been  worked  owing  to  the  cost  of  getting  in 
machinery.  There  are  a  few  small  mining  camps  along 
the  river  and  its  branches.  The  chief  settlement  is 
Caro. 

Of  the  rivers  that  empty  into  the  Arctic  the  Kobuk 
is  perhaps  the  best  known.  Its  waters  flow  into  Kotzebue 
Sound,  an  inlet  of  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

The  Kobuk  is  a  large  stream  said  to  be  about  four 
hundred  miles  long.  The  name  is  an  Eskimo  word 
meaning  "  Big  River."  It  rises  in  the  mountains  near 
the  headwaters  of  the  Koyukuk  and  a  glance  at  the  map 
will  show  that  in  its  westward  journey  to  the  Arctic  it 
covers  a  long  stretch  of  territory. 

This  region  in  many  parts  is  mountainous  and  wooded 
and  the  upper  courses  of  the  stream  are  picturesque. 
Game  and  fish  abound.  But  as  the  river  nears  its  outlet, 
the  country  is  desolate,  barren  and  much  like  that  of 
the  lower  stretches  of  the  Yukon. 

Not  only  has  gold  been  found  throughout  this  section 


Little  Known  Regions  of  Alaska  211 

but  rich  specimens  of  silver  and  copper  have  been  dis- 
covered. Some  have  assayed  phenomenal  values,  the 
copper  in  particular  showing  as  high  as  eight-seven  per 
cent.  There  is  also  said  to  be  coal  here,  and  what  is 
almost  unknown  in  Alaska,  jade.  Jade  Mountain  is  in 
this  section  wdiere  in  times  past  the  Indians  gathered  this 
mineral  for  tipping  their  arrows.  With  the  coming  of 
more  peaceful  days  they  now  make  it  into  ornaments. 

The  Colville  River  is  the  farthest  north  of  all  these 
rivers  and  flows  northward  directly  into  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  It  is  a  wide  stream  with  a  strong  current  and 
at  its  moutli  spreads  out  like  most  Alaska  rivers  over  a 
wide  reach  of  flats  where  stranded  icebergs  sparkle  in 
the  sun,  in  summer.  In  winter  it  is  a  region  of  ice  hum- 
mocks and  gray  dreary  gloom. 

The  valley  through  which  the  river  flows  is  from  fifty 
to  a  hundred  miles  wide  and  is  hemmed  in  by  low  barren 
hills. 

In  this  region  coal  has  been  found  by  the  few  prospec- 
tors who  have  visited  it,  and  petroleum  is  said  to  be  here 
also.  Float  coal  has  been  picked  up  and  used  by  the 
prospectors  for  their  camp  fires.  Stefansson  also  speaks 
of  finding  coal  in  this  Arctic  region,  though  his  explora- 
tions were  farther  to  the  eastward  in  Canadian  territory. 

Just  what  the  future  of  this  great  section  of  Alaska 
will  be  no  one  can  venture  to  guess.  If  the  coal  and 
oil  could  be  developed  they  would  help  marvellously  in 
opening  up  the  country,  and  would  be  useful  also  to  the 
whaling  vessels  and  to  the  few  other  boats  that  venture 
into  the  Arctic  in  these  regions.  But  such  development 
does  not  seem  at  all  probable.  These  treasures  will  most 
likely  remain  locked  in  these  Arctic  regions  until  eco- 
nomic pressure  makes  their  use  inevitable.  Then  rail- 
roads will  be  built  through  the  trackless  wilderness,  and 


212        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

these  stores  that  have  been  reserved  for  this  time  of  need 
will  be  poured  forth. 

The  second  large  region  of  Alaska  that  is  as  yet  little 
explored  is  the  area  extending  westward  from  the  Alaska 
Range  to  the  Yukon  River  and  from  Bering  Sea  to  the 
Tanana  River.  It  is  spoken  of  in  a  general  way  as  the 
Kuskokwim  country,  and,  roughly  speaking,  composes 
about  one-fourth  of  Alaska. 

It  is  not  so  inaccessible  as  some  parts  of  Alaska  that 
have  been  more  largely  developed.  The  Kuskokwim 
River,  the  second  largest  river  in  Alaska  and  navigable 
for  some  five  hundred  miles,  penetrates  it.  The  Kan- 
tishna,  a  stream  that  empties  into  the  Tanana  River,  can 
be  ascended  for  some  distance  and  the  region  approached 
in  this  way.  The  country  can  be  reached  from  the  Yukon 
by  way  of  Iditerod,  and  passes  through  the  Alaska  Range 
permit  entrance  from  the  east.  Nor  is  it  a  barren,  unin- 
habitable country.  Though  game  and  fish  in  some  parts 
of  it  are  not  so  plentiful  as  in  some  other  parts  of  Alaska 
there  is  sufficient  to  sustain  life.  Wild  berries  abound 
and  the  forage  grasses  for  horses  grow  luxuriantly.  Yet 
it  has  been  little  explored  and  scarcely  at  all  developed. 

This  condition  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  no  rich 
gold  strike  has  been  made  here,  for  in  Alaska  it  is  the 
prospector  whose  finger  records  the  pulse  of  its  develop- 
ment. Let  him  make  a  good  strike  and  the  world  flocks 
to  the  door  he  has  opened.  Let  him  report  no  prospects 
and  the  section  remains  neglected. 

Yet  the  Kuskokwim  country  is  said  to  have  rich  re- 
sources by  those  who  know  Alaska,  and  it  is  believed  by 
these  that  it  will  become  one  of  its  most  prosperous 
regions.  "  I  never  saw  a  more  beautiful  sight,"  enthu- 
siastically said  a  prospector  who  had  been  through  there, 
"  than  the  view  that  met  my  eyes  when  I  crossed  the 


Little  Known  Regions  of  Alaska  213 


mountains   and  came  out  on  a  point  where   the   great 
Kuskokwim  valley  stretched  before  me.     It  was  mag- 
nificent.    Some  day  that  will  be  a  fine  farming  country." 
The  Kuskokwim  River  has  its  source  in  three  forks 
that  rise  on  the  western  slopes  of  the  great  Alaska  Range. 
There  are  also  other  rivers  and  streams  here  that  are 
tributary  to  it,  so  that  the  region  is  one  of  valleys,  some 
broad  and  fertile,  others  narrow  and  hilly,  and  of  swamp? 
and  flat  marshy  country.     After  these  streams  unite,  the 
Kuskokwim  flows  through  a  broad  definite  valley  with 
rounded,   level-topped  low  mountains.     The  scenery  is 
not  unlike  that  of  some  parts  of  the  Yukon.     Farther 
down  the  mountains  draw  nearer,  the  valley  is  narrower 
and  some  high,  isolated  peaks  covered  with  snow  the  year 
through,  show.     At  places  the  river  bluffs  are  from  five 
to  six  hundred  feet  high  and  from  them  stretches  a  broad 
upland  plateau.     At  Kolmakof,  a  Russian  settlement,  the 
river  is  nearly  a  mile  wide  and  has  an  unobstructed  chan- 
nel, with  islands  here  and  there  covered  with  willows 
and  alders.     Farther  down  the  low  flat  tundra  appears 
with  small  swampy  lakes  in  its  expanse.     For  a  long 
distance  above  the  river  mouth  not  even  a  tall  bush  is 
to  be  seen.     The  whole  region  is  a  level  swamp  covered 
with  a  few  feet  of  peat. 

It  is  in  the  valleys,  the  broad  valley  of  the  Kuskokwim, 
and  the  small  valleys  of  the  other  streams,  that  the  agri- 
cultural and  grazing  possibilities  of  this  great  region  lie. 
The  summers  are  warm  with  but  little  rain.  The  win- 
ters are  clear  with  but  little  extreme  changes  or  heavy 
snows.  In  the  valleys  it  is  believed  all  kinds  of  vege- 
tables can  be  grown,  though  the  soil  will  have  to  be  thor- 
oughly worked  and  fertilized.  Wild  berries,  native 
grasses  shoulder  high  suitable  for  cattle,  spruce,  birch 
and  poplar  are  all  found  here.     In  the  small  mining  set- 


214        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

tlements  vegetables  are  already  being  raised.  At  one  of 
these  places  several  acres  have  been  cleared,  and  one 
season  more  than  six  tons  of  potatoes  were  raised,  which 
were  sold  at  a  good  price  to  the  miners. 

In  regard  to  the  native  grasses,  a  member  of  a  gov- 
ernment party  that  came  through  here  to  survey  said  that 
in  no  locality  in  Alaska  had  he  seen  such  a  luxuriant 
growth  of  native  redtop  grass,  and  he  is  a  man  who  knows 
Alaska  well. 

In  some  of  these  valleys  and  on  the  hillsides,  this  same 
surveying  party  had  to  cut  through  miles  of  dense  inter- 
twined alder  thickets.  In  the  central  Kuskokwim  valley 
is  a  good  growth  of  spruce  and  birch.  This  grows  in 
little  groves  with  grass  about  instead  of  underbrush  and 
gives  a  pleasing  parklike  aspect  to  the  scenery.  The 
spruce  is  dififerent  from  the  usual  spruce  of  the  interior 
as  it  has  branches  that  grow  to  the  ground  and  is  more 
dignified  and  impressive  than  its  smaller  sister  of  the 
Yukon  region. 

Gold  has  been  discovered  on  some  of  the  streams  and 
about  $500,000  mined.  Coal  is  also  found.  Prospec- 
tors say  they  have  picked  up  enough  in  stream  beds  for 
their  camp  fires.  Copper  and  cinnabar  are  also  among 
the  minerals  of  this  region.  The  cinnabar  is  found  at 
various  points  along  the  river,  the  chief  deposit  so  far 
being  near  Kolmakof  in  a  cliff  on  the  river  bank.  But 
the  region  is  so  large  and  as  yet  so  little  known  that  what 
its  resources  are  no  one  can  state. 

The  discovery  of  minerals  has  brought  a  few  settle- 
ments. These  newer  settlements  are  on  the  upper  river 
and  are  little  more  than  mining  camps.  On  the  lower 
river,  however,  are  some  that  date  back  to  earlier  days. 
In  1832,  Lukeen,  a  Russian  crcole,  with  a  party  of  na- 
tives built  some  log  houses  on  the  river  at  a  point  quite 


Little  Known  Regions  of  Alaska  215 

a  distance  from  its  mouth,  the  Httle  settlement  becoming 
known  as  Lukeen's  Fort.  Eventually  it  was  burnt,  but 
some  years  later  other  Russians  came  and  the  place  was 
rebuilt  and  named  Kolmakof  for  the  leader  of  this  later 
expedition.  It  is  therefore  the  oldest  settlement  on  the 
river  and  important  of  its  kind. 

Farther  down  the  river  is  Bethel,  an  Indian  village 
with  a  mission  of  the  Moravian  church.  This,  too,  is  of 
a  permanent  character,  and  though  not  large  is  of  help 
in  developing  the  country. 

Westward  from  the  Kuskokwim  River  to  the  Yukon 
is  the  Iditerod  country.  There  is  more  development  here 
than  in  the  Kuskokwim  region  because  gold  was  found 
here  in  1906  and  for  a  time  hopes  were  entertained  that 
this  would  prove  another  of  Alaska's  rich  placer  sections. 
Miners  left  their  claims  on  the  Koyukuk  River,  on  the 
creeks  around  Fairbanks,  on  the  Tanana  and  upper 
Yukon,  some  coming  even  as  far  as  from  Fortymile  and 
Dawson.  Nome,  too,  was  not  without  its  excitement  at 
the  news,  for  the  tale  of  a  strike  in  Alaska  is  like  a  stone 
thrown  into  water.  The  circle  spreads  until  it  penetrates 
little  camps  far  on  the  outskirts  of  the  wilderness  and  the 
news  is  discussed  in  log  cabins  and  tiny  settlements  and, 
singly  and  in  groups,  miners  can  be  seen  mushing  to  the 
new  discovery,  or  if  it  can  be  reached  by  boat,  crowding 
the  steamers  to  be  among  the  first  arrivals. 

The  Iditerod  and  its  contiguous  territory  the  Innoko 
region,  in  which  gold  was  discovered  about  the  same 
time,  were  no  exceptions,  although  there  was  no  such 
rush  as  to  Dawson,  Nome  or  Fairbanks  for  the  finds  were 
by  no  means  so  rich.  But  the  element  of  uncertainty 
that  enters  into  a  gold  strike  is  part  of  the  lure.  Nobody 
knows  what  may  be  found  and  so  the  stampeders  come, 
hoping  that  this  is  the  time  they  will  strike  it  rich. 


216        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

"  One  more  trip   for  that  golden  treasure 
That  will  last  you  all  your  life," 

is  the  siren  song  that  ever  sounds  in  their  ears. 

As  the  result  of  the  rush,  Iditerod  City  sprang  into 
life  with  the  celerity  of  the  usual  mining  town.  The 
buildings  were  mostly  frame  instead  of  log  as  there  is 
little  timber  in  this  part  of  the  country.  As  has  been  the 
case  Avith  most  of  the  mining  towns  of  Alaska,  a  fire 
destroyed  the  little  place  shortly  after  it  was  built.  But 
with  customary  Alaskan  spirit,  it  was  quickly  rebuilt,  and 
to-day  though  small  still  maintains  its  existence  in  this 
little  frequented  part  of  Alaska. 

Iditerod  and  the  towns  near  it  are  reached  in  summer 
by  boats  up  the  Innoko  River  from  the  Yukon.  The 
country  has  few  attractive  features,  being  low  and  flat 
in  its  first  approaches  from  the  Yukon.  Gradually  it 
grows  a  bit  more  rolling  in  character  and  low  mountains 
show  on  the  horizon.  The  region  is,  in  the  main, 
treeless. 

The  town  was  laid  out  with  a  little  more  regularity 
than  the  usual  mining  settlement,  for  its  few  streets  are 
parallel  and  intersect  each  other  at  right  angles.  The 
buildings  are  small.  Most  of  the  timber  for  their  con- 
struction had  to  be  brought  in  which  made  building  costly 
and  so  size  was  cut  to  the  lowest  possible  dimension. 

About  seven  miles  from  Iditerod  is  Flat  City,  another 
small  settlement  that  grew  from  the  discovery  of  gold 
on  Flat  Creek.  It  is  much  the  same  as  Iditerod  in  ap- 
pearance and  a  horse  tramway  run  on  wooden  rails  con- 
nects the  two.  Dikeman  and  a  few  other  little  mining 
camps  are  scattered  through  the  section.  Some  dredges 
have  been  brought  in  as  the  ground  scarcely  yielded  suf- 
ficient returns  to  make  the  more  primitive  methods  prof- 


Little  Known  Regions  of  Alaska  217 

itable.     With  cheaper  methods  of  operation,  however, 
fair  returns  could  be  secured. 

When  the  survey  for  the  government  railroad  from 
Cook  Inlet  northward  was  made,  a  party  was  sent  into 
this  Kuskokwim  region  to  report  on  a  route  through  to 
Iditerod  and  the  Yukon  with  the  possibility  sometime  of 
its  going  on  across  the  Seward  Peninsula  to  Nome. 
Quite  a  practicable  route  was  discovered,  and  no  doubt 
in  time  such  a  road  will  be  built  and  this  vast  region  with 
its  resources  opened  to  development.  At  present  sup- 
plies can  be  brought  in  only  through  Bering  Sea  and  the 
Yukon,  which  are  open  only  for  a  short  time  in  the  sum- 
mer, down  the  Yukon  from  White  Horse,  down  the 
Tanana  from  Fairbanks,  or  else  over  a  winter  trail 
through  the  Alaska  range.  All  these  routes  are  round- 
about and  costly.  If  a  direct  service  could  be  had 
through  Seward,  an  ocean  port  open  the  year  round,  and 
then  by  rail,  this  section  would  soon  show  a  vast  change. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

SITKA  AND  Alaska's  history 

How     TO     REACH     SiTKA.      ItS     BEAUTIFUL     ENVIRONMENT.      ThE 
MEETING  OF  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW  IN  THE  TOWN.      ThE  GrEEK 

CHURCH.       The  Government  Experimental   Farm.       The 
Sheldon  Jackson  School.     Beautiful  Lovers'  Lane. 

Sitka,  a  gem  of  rare  scenic  beauty  and  a  place  about 
which  centres  much  of  Alaska's  history,  is  off  the  regular 
route  of  travel.  Steamers  returning  to  Seattle  from 
Cordova  and  other  points  to  the  westward  sometimes 
make  a  stop  at  Sitka.  Some  of  the  boats  to  Skagway 
from  Seattle  take  the  place  in,  either  going  or  coming. 
But  if  one  w^ants  to  make  sure  of  a  visit  to  Sitka,  he 
must  carefully  plan  his  itinerary  to  include  it.  He  can- 
not take  it  for  granted  that  his  steamer  will  stop  there. 
It  is  wisest  to  make  definite  inquiries  and  to  be  sure  he 
is  on  a  steamer  that  not  only  usually  but  on  this  specific 
trip  will  make  this  point.  If  one  intends  staying  either 
at  Juneau  or  Skagway  for  a  summer  holiday,  small 
launches  can  be  secured  for  a  special  trip  and  this  is  one 
of  the  most  delightful  ways  to  go,  as  many  places  can  be 
visited  that  could  not  otherwise  be  seen. 

The  scenery  en  route  to  Sitka,  whether  he  comes  from 
Cordova  or  from  Juneau  or  Skagway,  is  among  the  most 
magnificent  of  all  the  Alaska  coast.  This  is  particularly 
true  if  he  comes  from  the  westward.  The  journey  has 
all  the  beauty  of  winding  waterways  and  wooded  shores, 
and,  in  addition,  it  has  the  spectacle  of  the  St.  Elias  range 
of  mountains  sweeping  up  almost  from  the  coast  into 

218 


Sitka  and  Alaska's  History  219 

peaks  twelve  thousand,  fourteen  thousand  and  sixteen 
thousand  feet  high.  Clear  cut  and  sharp  against  the 
blue  sky  these  peaks  stand,  robed  in  snow  from  base  to 
summit.  Tremendous  glaciers  wind  down  their  sides, 
for  this  is  the  region  of  the  great  glaciers  of  Alaska.  It 
is  here  that  Malaspina  Glacier  sends  its  great  ice  wall 
down  to  the  ocean.  And  when  the  open  waters  of  the 
Pacific  are  left  behind  and  the  steamer  threads  Icy  Strait 
and  Cross  Sound,  Glacier  Bay  is  passed  where  is  Muir 
Glacier,  not  merely  a  stream  of  ice  winding  down  a 
mountain-walled  valley  like  the  Swiss  glaciers  but  a 
broad  undulating  prairie  of  ice.  Some  of  its  tributaries 
alone  are  from  ten  to  twenty  miles  long  and  two  to  six 
miles  wide.  The  largest  of  the  Swiss  glaciers  is  only 
sixteen  miles  long  and  about  a  mile  wide,  so  that  the 
magnitude  of  this  sheet  of  ice  in  comparison  can  be 
imagined.  There  are  two  hundred  tributaries  large  and 
small  of  the  Muir  Glacier,  and  it  is  estimated  that  it 
probal:)ly  contains  as  much  ice  as  all  the  eleven  hundred 
Swiss  glaciers  combined.  Neither  this  nor  the  Mala- 
spina Glacier  can  be  seen  from  the  steamers  but  they  can 
be  visited  in  small  launches,  which  is  why  these  special 
trips  are  so  unusually  delightful. 

Icy  Strait  is  itself  a  glorious  scene.  Blue  waters 
stretch  to  shore  lines  of  low,  green  hills  and  then  above 
these  tower  the  great  mountains,  peak  after  peak  in  the 
sublime  beauty  of  majestic  height  and  purity,  a  mighty 
host  and  as  spotlessly  white  as  if  painted.  The  name 
was  given  because  of  the  ice  that  breaks  off  from  Muir 
Glacier  and  floats  out  to  sea  here. 

All  the  names  hereabouts  are  interesting  either  because 
of  their  fitness  or  by  reason  of  their  historic  interest. 
Cross  Sound,  which  adjoins  Icy  Strait,  was  so  named  by 
Captain  Cook  because  it  was  discovered  on  the  third  of 


220        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

May  which  is  marked  on  the  calendars  as  the  "  Finding 
of  the  Cross." 

As  Sitka  is  approached  the  scenery  grows  more  beau- 
tiful. Every  nook  and  corner  has  its  charm.  A  small 
cove  into  which  the  steamer  turned  for  a  stop  at  a  salmon 
cannery  was  a  scene  of  unusual  loveliness.  From  one 
end  of  the  boat  the  water,  green  as  jade,  stretched  to  a 
curving  beach,  beyond  which  lay  dense  spruce  forests. 
Over  the  tops  of  the  spruce  trees  rose  a  cone-shaped 
mountain  and  beyond  a  great  snow  range.  From  the 
other  end  of  the  boat  the  water  swept  away  blue  as  tur- 
quoise to  distant  green  hills  and  beyond  these  again 
towered  snow  mountains.  At  the  water's  edge  wherever 
a  foot  of  soil  permitted  were  masses  of  rosy  fireweed. 

Amid  such  scenes  of  beauty  the  steamer  winds  its  way 
through  narrow  channels  with  tiny  buoys  surmounted 
with  little  red  caps  to  mark  the  route.  Point  after  point 
reaches  out  as  if  trying  to  block  the  passage,  but  the 
steamer  slips  around  them  and  at  last  Sitka  Harbor  itself 
is  reached.  The  water  here  is  dotted  with  innumerable 
islands  crowded  with  green,  slender-tipped  spruce.  The 
shore  line  beyond  curves  in  a  delicate  crescent  and  behind 
the  little  cluster  of  houses  and  the  green  trees  rise  snow 
capped  peaks,  among  them  Mt.  Edgecumbe. 

The  town  itself  is  an  interesting  and  vivid  contrast  of 
the  old  and  the  new.  On  one  hand  are  the  most  modern 
of  canneries  with  all  the  quick,  deft  machinery  for  clean- 
ing and  packing  and  sealing  its  products  in  the  most 
efficient  manner.  Tn  contrast  are  old  monastery  build- 
ings, cruml)ling  log  houses  and  totem  poles  telling  of  the 
myths  of  a  primitive  people.  One  sees  in  the  Indian 
village  natives  still  living  the  life  of  primitive  times. 
And  at  the  other  end  of  the  town  in  the  fine  school  estab- 
lished  by   the   Presbyterian   Mission   Board   are   happy, 


Sitka  and  Alaska's  History  221 


clean,  bright-eyed  Indians  in  the  garb  of  civiHzation 
making  furniture,  cultivating  gardens,  busy  in  all  the 
occupations  of  the  progressive  world  of  to-day. 

The  town  though  it  has  little  regularity  of  streets  does 
not  have  the  jumbled,  disorderly  appearance  of  many 
Alaskan  towns  thus  laid  out.  The  streets  wind  in  pleas- 
ant curves  along  the  shore  front  or  back  over  the  hills. 
The  houses  are  placed  where  it  best  suited  their  owners. 
But  there  is  no  sense  of  crowding  and  there  is  a  charm 
of  greenness  and  neatness  that  leaves  a  refreshing  mem- 
ory as  if  life  is  lived  here  graciously  and  leisurely. 

Sitka  has  several  places  of  keen  interest  for  the  visitor. 
Perhaps  the  one  that  calls  most  loudly  is  the  Greek  church 
whose  golden  cross  and  green  dome  stand  out  above  the 
other  buildings. 

A  caretaker  shows  tourists  about,  a  pleasant,  low-voiced 
man  of  few  words  who  displays  a  restrained  but  pardon- 
able pride  in  the  relics  and  a  certain  tinge  of  scorn  for 
the  irreverent  curiosity  of  the  sightseers. 

The  church  inside  though  crude  in  construction  is 
rich  in  color.  One  can  easily  imagine  the  joy  the  splen- 
dor-loving Russians  must  have  felt  to  step  from  the 
green  wilderness  outside  into  this  scene  of  richness  red- 
olent with  its  memories  of  their  native  land. 

The  walls  are  decorated  with  many  oil  paintings  of 
the  Annunciation,  of  saints,  of  ancient  Bible  characters, 
of  angels  and  archangels,  all  rich  and  soft  in  coloring 
and  well  executed.  Many  of  these  paintings  are  more 
than  a  hundred  years  old.  Some  are  believed  to  be  more 
than  two  hundred. 

The  altar  stretching  across  one  end  of  the  church  is 
rich  with  gold  and  silver  and  the  soft  glow  of  lovely 
colors  in  canvases  of  the  Madonna  and  Child,  St.  Michael, 
the  Angel  Gabriel,  the  Last  Supper  and  similar  subjects. 


222        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Many  of  these  are  overlaid  with  gold  or  silver.  Some 
are  of  carved  ivory  overlaid  with  gold,  some  are  of  hand- 
hammered  silver.  Tall  candlesticks  richly  decorated  in 
colors  or  with  fine  beadwork,  superb  banners,  a  mass  of 
rich  embroidery,  add  to  the  sumptuous  effect.  It  is  a 
feast  of  color,  of  good  paintings  and  fine  handwork  that 
one  does  not  expect  to  find  in  this  out  of  the  way  corner 
of  the  world. 

One  painting  in  particular  arrests  the  eye,  a  canvas  of 
the  Madonna  and  Child.  The  sweetness  of  expression, 
the  delicacy  and  softness  of  coloring,  linger  long  in  mem- 
ory. Some  artist  has  put  his  soul  into  this  canvas,  and 
though  his  name  is  forgotten,  his  work  endures  as  a 
lovely  picture  of  the  ideal.  Mr.  Pierpont  Morgan  of- 
fered $25,000  for  it,  so  desirous  was  he  of  adding  it  to 
his  collection.  But  the  Russians  love  their  church  and 
all  it  contains.     Money  is  no  temptation  to  them. 

There  are  handsome  chalice  cloths  richly  embroidered 
in  gold  and  silver  and  in  colored  silks  in  quaint,  little- 
known  designs,  or  in  rich,  intricate  beadwork.  There 
are  priests'  robes  stiff  with  their  gold  and  silver  embroid- 
ery, and  marriage  crowns  and  bishops'  mitres  glittering 
with  jewels.  When  the  visitor  comes  out  of  the  church 
and  sees  the  grass-grown  streets  of  the  quiet  little  town, 
the  sagging,  moss-covered  roof  of  the  old  log  trading 
post,  the  steamer  at  the  dock,  the  cannery  humming  with 
its  modern  machinery,  he  feels  as  if  he  has  been  far  away 
from  this  scene,  glimpsing  the  religious  longings  and  the 
artistic  expression  of  a  distant  people  and  another  time. 

As  has  been  said,  Sitka  is  a  place  of  contrasts.  As 
one  leaves  the  church  and  wanders  on  up  the  street,  a 
neatly  lettered  sign  directs  to  the  government  experimen- 
tal farm  whose  neat  buildings  and  thrifty-looking  fields 
can  be  glimpsed  through  the  trees.     Sitka  is  the  head- 


MADONNA  AND   CHILD,"  IN  THE  GREEK  CHURCH,  SITKA 


Sitka  and  Alaska's  History  223 

quarters  for  the  experimental  work  the  United  States  is 
doing  in  agricultural  ways  for  Alaska.  The  chief  of  the 
bureau  has  his  home  here  and  several  acres  of  ground 
are  under  cultivation. 

The  Old  Pioneers'  Home  is  at  Sitka  where  Alaska's 
pioneers  are  cared  for  by  the  Territorial  government. 
The  first  Alaska  legislature  enacted  a  law  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  this  home  for  aged  prospectors  and  those 
who  have  spent  their  years  in  Alaska  assisting  in  opening 
and  developing  the  Territory  and  who  have  become  in- 
capacitated for  further  physical  labor  and  are  dependent. 

The  buildings  are  pleasantly  situated  facing  the  har- 
bor and  were  those  formerly  occupied  by  the  United 
States  Marine  Corps.  Many  improvements  and  addi- 
tions have  been  made  including  a  hospital  and  cottages 
for  the  isolation  of  contagious  cases.  A  physician  and  a 
corps  of  trained  nurses  are  employed.  The  management 
and  control  of  the  Home  are  vested  in  a  board  of  trustees 
consisting  of  the  Governor  of  the  Territory  and  two  citi- 
zens appointed  by  him. 

Another  place  of  interest  is  the  Sheldon  Jackson  School 
for  Indians.  At  one  end  of  the  town  is  the  Indian  vil- 
lage, at  the  other  end,  the  school;  and  if  any  one  wanted 
proof  of  the  value  of  such  work  for  the  natives  the  con- 
trast between  these  two  places  would  give  it.  The  village 
is  better  in  many  respects  than  some  Indian  settlements, 
but  even  so,  the  contrast  between  the  Indians  here  and  the 
happy,  clean,  neatly  dressed  natives  at  the  school  is 
marked. 

The  school  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  Presbyterian  mis- 
sion work  in  Alaska.  It  was  first  known  as  the  Sitka 
Mission  School,  but  in  1911,  upon  the  completion  of  the 
new  school  plant,  the  name  of  the  Sheldon  Jackson  School 
was  decided  upon  in  honor  of  the  pioneer  explorer,  edu- 


224        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


cator  and  missionary.  A  mammoth  rock  on  the  shore 
at  the  approach  to  the  grounds  bears  a  bronze  tablet  upon 
which  is  inscribed, 

Sheldon  Jackson  School 

Dedicated  to  the  memory  of  Sheldon  Jackson 

1834—1909 

Pioneer  missionary,  explorer  and  educator  in  the 

Rocky  Mountains  and  Alaska 

"And  in  every  work  that  he  began,  he  did  it  with  all  his 

heart."  II.  Chronicles,  31:21. 

The  school  buildings  are  pleasantly  situated  in  a  little 
amphitheatre  of  green  grass  hemmed  in  by  the  woods 
and  with  the  island-dotted  harbor  in  front.  They  are 
mostly  simple,  brown-shingled  structures  that  fit  restfully 
into  their  environment  and  include  dormitories,  cottages, 
residences  for  the  teaching  corps,  a  steam  laundry,  print- 
ing shop  and  other  industrial  buildings  and  a  museum. 
There  is  a  modernly  equipped  gymnasium  with  shower 
baths  and  lockers.  The  pupils  make  many  articles  of 
furniture  used  on  the  premises,  do  beautiful  work  in 
brass  and  copper,  and  in  their  printing  plant  do  much  of 
the  commercial  work  needed  by  the  residents  of  Sitka. 

Aside  from  its  interest  as  part  of  the  school,  the 
museum  is  in  itself  a  noteworthy  contribution  to  the 
attractions  of  Sitka.  Here  are  collected  many  things 
that  have  to  do  with  the  early  Russian  occupancy  of 
Alaska  as  well  as  curios  of  Indian  life  and  legend.  A 
small  pipe  organ  is  here  that  was  brought  from  Russia 
in  the  early  days;  Russian  trading  beads  made  in  Bohemia 
by  hand  especially  for  bartering  with  the  Indians;  and 
two  dainty,  miniature-like  cuff  buttons,  picked  up  in  an 
old  Russian  house  to  the  westward.     One  tries  to  con- 


Sitka  and  Alaska's  History  225 

jecture  what  the  persons  whose  sweet  faces  are  here  por- 
trayed thought  of  the  new  hfe  and  country  to  which  they 
had  come,  or  decides  perhaps  that  these  pictures  are  por- 
traits of  dear  ones  left  behind.  Russian  bricks,  copper 
tea  kettles,  shears  from  St.  Michael  with  great,  curving 
handles,  a  picture  of  the  famous  Russian  missionary 
Veniaminof,  bells  cast  in  Alaskan  foundries,  all  these 
things  and  many  more  give  a  kaleidoscopic  picture  of  the 
life  that  throbbed  so  busily  on  these  northern  shores  a 
hundred  years  and  more  ago. 

The  museum  is  even  more  liberally  supplied  with  me- 
morials of  Indian  life.  There  are  the  quaintly  decorated 
wooden  chests  which  lovers  of  Indian  handiwork  always 
so  desire  to  possess,  fine  specimens  of  Chilkat  blankets, 
masks  used  in  war  and  potlatch  dances,  belts  made  of 
caribou  teeth.  There  is  a  ladder  fashioned  by  cutting 
steps  in  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  and  an  anchor  composed  of 
a  heavy  stone  with  one  end  fitted  with  a  crude  wood 
casing  to  which  a  rope  could  be  attached,  and  other 
articles  showing  the  ingenuity  of  these  primitive  people. 
One  can  read  many  pages  of  early  Alaska  history  and 
life  in  this  museum  which  owes  its  inspiration  to  Mr. 
Jackson,  who  let  no  opportunity  slip  by  to  gather  any 
material  that  spoke  of  early  times. 

Many  other  parts  of  the  town  have  their  interest. 
Streets  with  Russian  names,  Matsoutoff,  Baranof,  Pes- 
chouroff,  and  then  with  the  sharp  contrast  with  which 
the  place  is  full,  Lincoln  Avenue,  wander  ofif  in  whimsical 
fashion  and  tempt  to  exploration.  The  Russian  grave- 
yard, the  old  log  trading  post,  the  roof  sagging,  the  walls 
losing  their  staunch  uprightness,  the  old  Russian  monas- 
tery or  mission  house  where  the  Russian  priest  lives, 
though  as  the  Russian  church  no  longer  has  a  head  the 
officials  do  not  know  just  what  is  their  standing,  all  fire 


226        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

the  imagination  with  pictures  of  another  hfe  and  another 
world  from  that  of  to-day.  But  though  all  these  have 
their  distinct  charm,  to  many  the  most  beautiful  and 
most  enjoyable  part  of  a  visit  to  Sitka  is  the  walk  through 
the  Indian  Park,  or  the  Indian  Walk,  or  Lovers'  Lane, 
as  it  is  variously  called. 

Indian  Park  in  which  is  this  famous  walk  lies  beyond 
the  Sheldon  Jackson  School  and  past  a  few  frame  houses 
in  which  some  of  the  graduates  of  the  school  live.  The 
road  to  it  winds  along  the  curving  shore  with  the  blue 
waters  of  the  harbor,  the  green  islands  with  a  tiny  line 
of  white  surf  beating  against  the  gray  rocks  at  their  base, 
making  a  picture  of  lovely  color  and  gentle  line  for  the 
eyes  to  feast  upon.  Then  suddenly  the  path  plunges 
into  a  dense,  cool,  evergreen  forest  with  thick  moss  be- 
neath the  feet  and  ferns  and  ground  dogwood  making  a 
carpet  of  green  between  the  tall,  straight  tree  trunks  as 
far  as  the  eye  can  see.  The  sunlight  penetrates  fitfully 
here  and  there,  lighting  the  green-brown  gloom  with  flick- 
ering spots  of  gold  or  sending  down  some  dark  avenue  a 
shaft  in  which  tiny  motes  dance.  Not  a  sound  is  heard 
but  the  gentle  splashing  of  the  waves  on  the  near-by 
shore  or  the  song  of  a  bird.  Then  through  the  trees  is 
caught  a  gleam  of  color  and  a  gigantic  totem  pole  looms 
up,  a  strange,  barbaric  note  amidst  this  simple  beauty  of 
nature.  Then  another  and  another  appears,  grim,  weird, 
and  then  off  in  a  little  grassy  glade  among  the  trees  is 
quite  a  group  of  them.  But  soon  they  are  left  behind, 
the  path  sweeps  out  to  a  point  on  the  shore  and  then 
turns  to  the  left  and  follows  the  clear,  brownish  water 
of  Indian  River  that  flows  in  shallow  ripples  over  stones 
and  gravel  into  the  sea.  Then  it  swings  back  under  a 
green  archway  to  the  shore  with  an  entrancing  vista 
ahead  through  an  avenue  of  dark  green  boughs  of  the 


Sitka  and  Alaska's  History  227 

harbor  with  one  tiny  island  crowded  to  its  edge  with  fir 
trees  set  right  in  the  centre  of  the  picture,  as  if  the 
pathway  had  been  chosen,  perhaps  it  was,  because  of  this 
charming  picture  that  fills  the  vista  at  the  end. 

As  one  comes  out  of  the  woods  a  very  fine  view  of  the 
town  itself  is  obtained  clustered  on  the  beach  with  the 
foreign-looking  green  dome  and  gold  cross  of  the  Greek 
church  dominating  it,  and  the  mountains  rising  beyond. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

Alaska's    romantic    history 

Vitus  Bering  and  other  early  explorers.  The  various 
Russian  fur  companies.  Baranof  and  his  work.  The 
purchase  by  the  United  States.    Boundary  questions. 

At  Sitka  one  comes  in  contact  more  comprehensively 
and  more  closely  than  elsewhere  with  the  history  of 
Alaska.  This  town  was  the  principal  city  of  the  Russian 
occupation,  here  Baranof,  the  builder  of  the  Czar's  do- 
main in  America,  had  for  many  years  his  official  resi- 
dence, and  here  after  the  transfer  to  the  United  States 
the  capital  of  the  Territory  was  established.  As  Alaskan 
history  begins  thus  to  unroll  here  many  are  sur- 
prised to  find  that  it  consists  of  more  than  annals  of  gold 
stampeders,  that  it  reaches  back  into  other  centuries  and 
other  civilizations,  and  that  it  matches  in  picturesque 
quality  that  of  New  England  and  its  Puritans,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  its  Quakers,  Florida  and  its  Spaniards,  Louisi- 
ana and  its  Creoles,  and  California  and  its  missions. 

Alaskan  history  begins,  one  might  say,  in  Siberia  with 
a  little  venturesome  band  of  Cossacks  who  had  crossed 
the  Ural  Mountains,  crossed  Siberia,  reached  Bering  Sea, 
though  it  was  not  then  so  called,  and  there  heard  tales  of 
a  great  land  to  the  eastward.  These  tales  were  verified 
by  the  timber  that  washed  up  on  the  shore  and  the  birds 
that  flew  over  the  water,  for  these  were  different  from 
those  of  the  country  in  which  they  then  were. 

These  talcs  of  a  country  l)cyon(l  and  the  conjectures  as 
to  what  it  must  be  like  drifted  l)ack  with  many  additions 

228 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  229 


to  St.  Petersburg  and  here  found  an  attentive  listener  in 
the  alert,  astute  Peter  the  Great.  Why  not  a  Russia 
in  America  as  well  as  a  Russia  in  Asia  and  a  Russia  in 
Europe,  he  ambitiously  dreamed?  To  make  the  dream 
come  true,  he  immediately  set  about  sending  out  expedi- 
tions to  explore. 

The  one  which  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  Ameri- 
can coast  was  in  charge  of  Vitus  Bering,  a  Dane,  who  had 
been  in  the  Russian  naval  service  for  some  thirty  years. 
With  him  was  associated  Alexei  Chirikof  as  lieutenant. 
Before  this  expedition  finally  sailed  from  the  Kamchatkan 
coast,  Peter  the  Great  passed  away,  but  his  wishes  were 
faithfully  carried  out  by  the  Empress  Catherine,  his 
widow,  and  Elizabeth,  his  daughter.  The  expedition  com- 
prised not  only  Bering  and  Chirikof  and  the  necessary 
crew,  but  several  scientific  men,  among  them  being  George 
Wilhelm  Steller,  the  naturalist,  whose  investigations 
added  much  to  the  early  knowledge  of  Alaska's  natural 
history. 

Two  vessels  were  fitted  out,  one  commanded  by  Bering, 
the  other  in  charge  of  Chirikof.  For  several  days  the 
two  vessels  kept  together  as  well  as  they  could.  But  a 
violent  storm  came  up,  some  disagreement  or  misunder- 
standing arose  between  Bering  and  Chirikof  as  to  the 
course  to  be  pursued  and  the  boats  became  separated. 
Chirikof  spent  several  days  trying  to  find  his  superior 
officer,  but  finally  decided  it  was  folly  to  waste  further 
time,  and  as  the  object  of  the  expedition  was  to  find  land, 
he  decided  to  be  about  it.  He  shaped  his  course  eastward 
and  on  the  fifteenth  of  July,  1741,  sighted  land.  It  was 
a  high  wooded  mountain,  green  and  beautiful,  and  a  boat 
was  sent  ashore.  But  no  landing  place  could  be  found 
and  the  party  returned.  A  fog  and  rain  then  came  on 
and  the  shore  disappeared  in  the  mist.     The  next  day  the 


230        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

weather  cleared  and  still  higher  mountains  were  sighted 
as  well  as  the  entrance  to  a  great  bay. 

An  exploring  party  was  again  sent  ashore.  Several  days 
passed  without  their  return  and  Chirikof,  becoming 
alarmed,  sent  a  second  boat.  This  also  failed  to  come 
back.  The  next  day  two  canoes  filled  with  Indians  ap- 
peared but  did  not  approach  the  vessel.  Chirikof  had  no 
more  ship's  boats  and  his  force  was  already  greatly  de- 
pleted by  the  loss  of  the  men  sent.  He  cruised  about  for 
several  days  hoping  to  receive  some  signal  that  the  men 
were  still  alive.  But  finally  he  gave  up  all  hope  and 
turned  his  vessel  toward  Kamchatka. 

Land  was  sighted  several  times  on  the  way  back,  high 
mountains  covered  with  snow  being  frequently  seen.  He 
had  no  boats,  however,  to  land.  He  had,  in  fact,  no  means 
of  getting  fresh  water  and  the  party  suffered  greatly  for 
the  lack  of  it.  Sickness  broke  out,  Chirikof  himself  fall- 
ing ill.  A  number  of  the  expedition  died.  The  sails 
rotted  and  fell  to  pieces,  for  the  crew,  few  in  number  and 
feeble  from  sickness,  were  unable  to  take  proper  care  of 
the  vessel.  The  ship  almost  navigated  itself.  But  finally 
the  party  reached  Kamchatka,  more  than  a  score  of  the 
little  company  having  been  lost  and  almost  all  of  those 
who  did  return  being  ill. 

Bering's  voyage  was  far  more  disastrous.  When  the 
two  vessels  were  separated,  he  drifted  about  for  a  day 
hoping  to  find  Chirikof,  but  finally  gave  up  the  attempt 
and  headed  southward.  Finding  nothing,  he  changed  his 
course  eastward  and  then  northeastward.  The  records 
of  his  voyage  show  constant  changes,  as  if  he  were  unde- 
cided just  what  course  to  adopt.  For  five  weeks  he  thus 
drifted  about.  Water  became  short  and  the  crew  were 
rationed  on  it.  At  last,  however,  on  July  16th,  a  towering 
peak  and  a  great  chain  of  snow  mountains  were  seen.    A 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  231 

contrary  wind  held  them  off  from  the  coast  until  July  20, 
when  they  were  enabled  to  land  on  an  island,  which  was 
named  St.  Elias  in  honor  of  the  day. 

Two  boats  were  sent  ashore  in  one  of  which  was  Stel- 
ler,  the  naturalist.  Huts  of  log  and  rough  planks  roofed 
with  bark  and  dried  grass  were  found,  also  copper  instru- 
ments, a  whetstone,  a  rattle  made  of  clay,  broken  arrows, 
some  dried  fish,  ropes  made  of  seaweed,  and  some  cooking 
utensils.  Steller  gathered  some  plants  among  which  was 
the  forget-me-not,  which  to-day  is  the  Territorial  flower. 
Steller  was  loath  to  leave  without  further  study  of  the 
natural  resources  of  the  new  land,  but  Bering  ordered  him 
aboard.  One  can  imagine  the  scientist's  joy  and  enthu- 
siasm at  being  the  first  to  explore  this  new  land  and  his 
regret  at  having  so  short  a  time  in  which  to  make  obser- 
vations. In  his  "  Journal,"  he  says  of  this  first  landing, 
"  On  descending  the  mountain  covered  with  a  vast  forest 
without  any  trace  of  road  or  trail,  I  found  it  impossible 
to  make  my  way  through  the  thicket,  and  consequently 
re-ascended;  looking  mournfully  at  the  limits  of  my  ob- 
servations, I  turned  my  eyes  toward  the  continent  which 
it  was  not  in  my  power  to  explore.  Again  receiving  a 
positive  order  to  join  to  the  ship  I  returned  mournfully 
with  my  collection."  He  is  described  by  others  of  the 
party  when  Bering  ordered  him  to  come  back  as  being 
perched  on  a  steep  rock  taking  in  as  much  as  possible  of 
America. 

For  some  unaccountable  reason  Bering  would  not  take 
on  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water,  but  having  found  the 
land  of  which  they  had  come  in  search,  he  ordered  a 
return  to  Asia.  The  other  officers  called  his  attention  to 
the  unfilled  water  casks  but  he  was  deaf  to  their  sugges- 
tions.    He  wanted  to  go  home  and  he  went. 

A  course  was  shaped  south  and  west.  Land  was  sighted 


232        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


through  fog  at  various  times,  but  no  landing  was  made. 
It  was  thought  that  at  one  time  the  coast  of  what  is  now 
Kodiak  was  seen.  Progress  was  made  through  numerous 
islands  which  were,  no  doubt,  the  islands  off  Kodiak,  the 
Alaska  Peninsula  and  the  beginning  of  the  Aleutians. 
Water  gave  out  and  sickness  broke  out  among  the  crew. 
One  died  and  was  buried  on  the  Shumagin  Islands,  the 
name  being  given  in  his  memory. 

Bering  himself  fell  ill.  Sickness  among  the  crew  in- 
creased. Every  day  saw  a  death  on  board  until  there 
were  scarcely  enough  of  the  crew  left  to  manage  the 
ship.  Of  this  period  Steller  says  in  his  "  Journal,"  "  The 
most  eloquent  pen  would  fail  to  describe  the  misery  of 
our  condition."  Bering,  it  is  said,  was  profuse  in  his 
promises  to  celestial  powers.  Catholic  or  Protestant, 
Greek  or  German,  he  guaranteed  plentiful  donations  to 
all  ahke  if  any  would  help  him.  He  was  not  particular  as 
to  creed  so  only  he  received  the  help  desired. 

The  condition  of  the  ship  was  terrible.  The  crew,  no 
matter  how  ill,  were  compelled  to  work  night  and  day  in 
rain,  cold  and  snow,  for  the  season  was  late  and  winter 
was  setting  in.  The  sails  and  rigging  were  so  rotten  it 
was  impossible  to  set  much  canvas.  Finally  land  that 
was  believed  to  be  Kamchatka  was  sighted.  Steller  gives 
a  graphic  picture  of  the  effect  of  it  upon  all  of  them.  "  It 
would  be  impossible  to  describe  the  joy  created  by  the 
sight  of  land,"  he  writes.  "  The  dying  crawled  on  deck 
to  see  with  their  own  eyes  what  they  could  not  believe; 
even  the  feeble  commander  was  carried  out  of  his  cabin. 
To  the  astonishment  of  all,  a  small  keg  of  brandy  was 
taken  from  some  hiding  place  and  dealt  out  in  celebration 
of  the  supposed  approach  to  the  coast  of  Kamchatka." 

The  next  day,  however,  an  accident  befell  the  boat  that 
made  a  landing  on  the  nearest  land  imperative.     They 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  233 


steered,  therefore,  toward  the  point  immediately  at  hand 
and  cast  anchor.  But  the  sea  began  to  rise,  the  anchor 
cable  broke,  a  huge  wave  carried  the  boat  over  a  ledge  of 
rocks,  and  they  were  held  fast  in  a  little  bay  on  a  shore  of 
which  they  knew  nothing. 

They  set  about  making  themselves  as  comfortable  as 
possible.  There  was  a  little  driftwood  on  the  island  and 
by  digging  caves  in  the  sand  and  shielding  them  with  what 
sail-cloth  they  had  left,  they  made  some  sort  of  shelters. 
The  sick  people  were  then  carried  ashore.  The  only 
animals  seen  were  Arctic  foxes,  who  fell  upon  the  dead 
and  devoured  them  before  burial  was  possible.  The  sea 
otter  was  found  for  food,  and  it  was  this  discovery  of 
the  animal,  it  is  said,  that  led  eventually  to  the  founding 
of  the  Russian  power  in  America. 

Winter  set  in,  sickness  increased,  food  was  scarce,  and 
dull  despair  settled  upon  all  in  the  little  community.  At 
last  on  a  cold,  gray  day  in  December,  Bering  died  in  a 
miserable  hut  half  covered  with  sand  which  trickled  in  on 
him.  A  few  days  afterward,  the  second  mate  died  and 
then  more  of  the  sailors.  It  began  to  look  as  if  the  whole 
little  band  would  be  wiped  out.  But  finally  the  sick  ones 
began  to  improve,  the  outlook  grew  brighter,  and  thought 
was  turned  to  means  of  leaving  this  barren  waste. 

The  castaways  in  their  explorations  had  already  dis- 
covered that  they  were  on  an  island  and  not  on  the  coast 
of  Kamchatka  as  they  had  believed.  They  saw  that  if 
they  were  ever  to  get  away  they  must  take  matters  in 
their  own  hands.  Finally  it  was  decided  to  use  what  re- 
mained of  the  ship  to  build  a  boat.  Even  then  in  their 
desperate  condition  so  great  was  their  awe  of  their  rulers 
that  they  feared  they  would  be  punished  for  taking  a  gov- 
ernment vessel  to  pieces.  But  they  decided  it  would  be  no 
worse  than  death  on  the  island  and  so  they  began. 


234        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

It  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  following  summer 
that  the  vessel  was  completed.  All  the  provisions  they 
had  for  it  was  the  meat  of  sea  animals.  But  crudely  built 
and  poorly  provisioned  as  it  was,  they  set  forth  in  it,  not 
knowing  where  they  were  nor  how  to  reach  the  coast  they 
were  seeking.    But  finally  they  came  to  Kamchatka. 

Thus,  in  disaster,  ended  the  two  voyages  which  had  set 
out  with  such  high  hopes  to  discover  America.  But  they 
had  succeeded  in  their  object.  The  land  to  the  eastward 
was  proven  to  exist,  and  the  skins  of  the  sea  otters  which 
these  survivors  brought  back  gave  it  a  value  that  imme- 
diately turned  covetous  eyes  toward  it.  Although  upon 
Bering's  and  Chirikof's  discoveries  Russia  based  her 
claim  to  the  ownership  of  northwest  America,  probably 
little  further  would  have  been  done  for  many  years  at 
least,  if  these  rich  and  valuable  furs  had  not  pointed  to  a 
new  source  of  wealth.  In  Russia,  fur  was  almost  the 
currency  of  the  country.  Taxes  and  salaries  were  paid 
in  furs.  In  old  charters  and  legal  documents,  penalties 
and  rewards  were  given  in  furs.  The  sea  otter  was  es- 
pecially valuable,  so  that  the  discovery  was  to  the  Rus- 
sians what  the  finding  of  gold  in  Alaska  was  to  later 
generations.  Hardship,  toil,  even  death,  were  braved  to 
share  in  this  new  source  of  wealth. 

Within  a  few  years  a  horde  of  traders  and  hunters  had 
started  for  these  new  lands.  Although  little  was  known 
in  regard  to  the  region  and  there  were  no  charts  to  guide 
through  these  unknown  waters,  these  men  were  not  de- 
terred. The  boats  they  built  were  of  the  crudest  kind 
and  often  went  to  pieces  in  the  first  gale,  but  though  there 
were  shipwrecks  and  much  suffering,  the  rich  cargoes 
they  brought  back  of  sea  otter  and  fox  skins  incited  others 
to  brave  the  dangers.  The  gentle,  peaceful  natives  of 
these  islands,  the  Aleutians,  were  cruelly  mistreated.     It 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  235 

is  said  many  committed  suicide  to  escape  from  the  Rus- 
sians, and  for  a  hundred  years  and  more  the  cruelties  of 
these  early  traders  were  told  by  the  remnant  of  the  race 
that  were  happy  and  prosperous  until  the  Russians  ar- 
rived. It  has  been  estimated  that  the  natives,  who  num- 
bered about  twenty-five  thousand  at  the  coming  of  the 
Russians,  were  reduced  to  less  than  a  thousand  under  the 
Russian  rule. 

The  outrages  committed  by  these  early  traders  led  to 
the  formation  of  trading  companies  with  the  pretense  at 
least  of  government  oversight.  The  most  important  of 
these  was  the  one  with  which  Grigor  Shelikof  was  asso- 
ciated. He  has  been  called  the  founder  of  the  Russian 
colonies  on  the  American  continent.  He  banded  these 
various  traders  into  companies,  started  colonies  and 
l)rought  order,  system  and  efficiency  into  the  business. 

With  Shelikof  at  the  head  of  affairs,  operations  were 
extended  eastward.  The  ruthless  slaughter  of  the  fur- 
bearing  animals  on  the  islands  first  discovered  was  be- 
ginning to  show  in  decreased  returns,  li  the  business  was 
to  continue  to  be  profitable  new  hunting  grounds  were 
necessary.  Foreseeing  this,  Shelikof  sent  expeditions  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Copper  River,  which  was  ascended  for 
some  distance,  and  to  Prince  William  Sound,  which  w^as 
at  that  time  named  by  the  Russians,  Chugach.  This  name 
is  still  retained  by  the  mountains  near  the  coast  but  the 
name  of  the  body  of  water  was  changed  by  Captain  Cook 
to  Prince  William  Sound. 

Not  only  did  he  decide  that  new  hunting  grounds  were 
necessary  but  that  the  establishment  of  permanent  col- 
onies would  be  wise.  Therefore,  in  1783,  three  vessels 
were  fitted  out,  a  company  of  about  two  hundred  people 
gathered,  and  with  his  wife,  who  always  accompanied  him 
on  his  expeditions,  he  sailed  eastward,  finally  reaching 


236        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Kikhtak  or  Kaniag,  the  present  Kodiak,  and  entered  a 
harbor  named  after  their  vessels,  Three  Saints.  Here 
they  made  a  settlement,  though  the  natives  at  first  at- 
tacked them  and  tried  to  prevent  them  from  occupying 
the  land.  Houses  and  fortifications  were  erected,  Sheli- 
kof  making  his  own  residence  as  luxurious  as  possible  in 
order,  it  is  said,  to  impress  the  savages.  A  school  was 
opened,  Shelikof  himself  teaching  and  also  Madame 
Shelikof.  Gardens  were  planted,  and  the  little  settlement 
took  on  signs  of  permanency.  Explorations  were  made 
on  near-by  islands  and  coasts  and  further  colonies 
planned. 

In  1786  one  of  the  companies  with  which  Shelikof  was 
connected  sent  out  Gerassim  Pribylof  who  discovered  the 
fur  seal  islands.  Here  were  also  found  sea  otters,  for 
they  had  not  been  disturbed  in  this  section,  and  also  walrus 
and  fox,  and  these  new  sources  of  valuable  furs  and  other 
products  brought  in  a  new  harvest  of  wealth. 

Afifairs  were  now  going  well  with  Shelikof  and  he 
returned  to  Siberia  to  take  steps  for  obtaining  the  ex- 
clusive right  to  trade  in  these  regions  for  his  companies. 

The  Russians,  however,  had  not  been  left  in  undis- 
puted possession  of  these  waters.  The  news  of  the  rich 
harvest  they  were  reaping  had  reached  the  ears  of  other 
governments  and  other  traders,  and  various  expeditions 
had  been  sent  to  explore  and  to  take  possession  of  the  land 
in  the  name  of  their  respective  sovereigns,  and  many  pri- 
vate traders  of  other  nationalities  had  also  come. 

The  Spanish  had  arrived  in  1773,  and  for  some  twenty 
years  and  more  thereafter  they  went  through  the  cere- 
mony at  various  places  of  claiming  the  land  for  Spain. 
Mt.  Edgecumbe  was  discovered  by  the  Spanish  and  named 
Mt.  San  Jacinto.  At  one  time  they  had  quite  a  flourishing 
colony  for  a  few  years  at  Nootka  on  the  western  coast  of 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  237 

Vancouver  Island.  The  natives  were  driven  off  the  land 
and  a  little  Spanish  village  established  with  a  fort 
mounted  with  cannon,  barracks,  cottages,  storehouses,  a 
church,  hospital,  bakery,  blacksmith  and  carpenter  shops. 
The  ceremony  of  taking  possession  was  full  of  the  color 
and  picturesqueness  of  Spain.  Flags  were  raised  and 
cannon  fired.  There  was  speechmaking  and  feasting. 
Meanwhile,  from  vantage  points  on  near-by  hills,  the  In- 
dians sadly  watched  the  occupation  of  their  pleasant  land, 
and  could  they  have  fully  understood  the  activities  of 
these  strangers  the  irony  of  blandly  appropriating  the 
property  of  others  and  then  erecting  thereon  a  house  in 
which  to  worship  a  God  of  justice,  must  have  sunk  deep 
into  their  savage  breasts. 

The  Indians,  however,  were  helpless,  and  the  little 
Spanish  settlement  flourished.  Gardens  were  planted, 
vegetables  raised  and  life  was  quite  comfortable  and 
happy.  Vancouver  says  of  it,  "  Their  poultry,  consisting 
of  fowls  and  turkeys,  were  in  excellent  condition  and  in 
abundance,  as  were  black  cattle  and  swine."  The  captain 
of  a  trading  vessel  from  Boston  also  reports  the  settle- 
ment's prosperity  and  tells  of  a  dinner  he  had  there  at 
w^hich  everything  was  served  on  silver  and  that  when  he 
sailed  away  forty  fresh  salmon,  fresh  pork,  eggs,  butter, 
new  bread,  wine,  salad  and  cabbage  were  given  him. 

Alejandro  Malaspina,  who  was  in  charge  of  one  of 
these  Spanish  expeditions,  entered  the  bay  where  is  the 
great  glacier  that  bears  his  name.  To  this  harbor  he  gave 
the  name  of  Disenchantment  Bay  because  when  he  first 
entered  he  thought  he  had  found  the  long  sought  passage 
to  Hudson  Bay, 

The  English  came,  and  under  Captain  Cook  and  George 
Vancouver  made  exhaustive  and  careful  explorations  and 
surveys.     But  they  were  chiefly  hunting  the  route  to  the 


238        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


Atlantic  Ocean  that  it  was  hoped  would  be  found  along 
this  coast  and  they  gave  little  thought  to  colonization  or 
fur  hunting.  Cook's  instructions  read,  "  Make  a  thorough 
search  for  a  navigable  passage  into  Hudson  or  Baffin 
Bay."  But  he  was  also  told  "to  take  possession  with 
the  consent  of  the  natives  in  the  name  of  the  King  of 
Great  Britain  of  certain  situations  in  any  such  countries 
as  you  may  discover."  He  went  up  and  down  the  coast 
carefully  sounding  and  making  charts.  Cook  Inlet, 
which  was  named  for  him,  he  felt  sure  was  the  longed-for 
passage  and  Turnagain  Arm  aptly  expresses  his  feelings 
as  he  found  he  must  seek  further.  He  entered  Bering 
Sea  and  went  as  far  north  as  Icy  Cape.  Vancouver,  who 
had  been  a  midshipman  under  Cook,  continued  the  work 
after  Cook's  death,  and  so  careful  and  accurate  was  he 
that  his  charts  are  in  use  to-day  and  his  work  has  been  the 
basis  of  all  work  since  then.  He  definitely  removed  all 
doubt  as  to  the  possibility  of  finding  any  water  communi- 
cation for  shipping  between  the  north  Pacific  and  the 
interior  of  the  continent. 

The  French  also  came,  and  in  1786  a  French  vessel, 
under  La  Perouse,  sighted  Mt.  St.  Elias  and  Cape  Fair- 
weather  and  made  various  explorations  near  by. 

The  Russians,  however,  went  steadily  ahead  with  their 
colonization  and  fur  hunting,  and  under  the  vigorous 
direction  of  Shelikof  prospered.  In  1778  he  was  suc- 
cessful in  securing  the  imperial  favor  he  had  been  seeking 
for  his  enterprise.  A  ukase  was  issued  granting  to  the 
Shelikof  Company  exclusive  control  over  the  region  occu- 
pied by  them.  The  Empress  said  in  her  ukase,  "  As  a  re- 
ward for  services  rendered  to  the  country  by  the 
merchants  Shelikof  and  Golikof  by  discovering  unknown 
countries  and  nations  and  establishing  commerce  and  in- 
dustries there." 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  239 

His  ambitions  thus  far  realized,  Shelikof  looked  about 
him  for  a  man  to  send  to  this  new  country,  one  who  would 
vigorously  push  the  business  and  be  able  to  handle  suc- 
cessfully the  many  intricate  problems  that  would  arise. 
He  knew  he  must  have  a  man  of  good  practical  business 
ability,  yet  one  with  vision ;  firm  enough  to  deal  with  the 
natives  and  colonists,  yet  not  so  brutal  as  to  fail  to  win 
their  cooperation ;  a  man,  too,  who  was  trustworthy,  for 
all  the  multiple  business  of  the  company  would  be  in  his 
hands.  His  choice  fell  upon  Alexander  Baranof.  Bara- 
nof  at  first  declined,  but  his  own  affairs  not  prospering, 
he  finally  accepted  and  thus  came  upon  the  scene,  the 
second  man  to  help  make  the  Russian  colonization  of  this 
part  of  America  a  success. 

Baranof  was  born  in  eastern  Russia  and  early  went  to 
Moscow  where  he  became  a  clerk  in  a  retail  establishment. 
Later  he  emigrated  to  Siberia  where  he  eventually  went 
into  the  trading  business  for  himself.  Shelikof  in  some  of 
his  journeys  through  Siberia  had  no  doubt  met  him  and 
been  impressed  with  his  ability. 

The  task  that  confronted  the  new  manager  was  not 
light.  The  traders  that  were  coming  into  these  waters 
for  sea  otter  skins,  which  were  the  very  life  of  the  Sheli- 
kof Company,  had  better  and  fresher  goods  than  the 
Russians  could  bring  by  sled  across  Siberia  and  did  not 
have  to  maintain  permanent  forts  and  settlements  and  so 
could  be  more  lavish  with  their  goods.  Not  only  did  he 
have  this  handicap  to  fight,  but  at  the  time  he  took  charge, 
dissatisfaction  was  rife  among  the  Shelikof  employees. 
No  supply  ships  had  arrived  from  Russia  for  several  years 
and  the  traders  and  hunters  for  the  Russians  had  been 
compelled  to  live  on  the  native  food  and  they  were  almost 
en  the  point  of  mutiny. 

But  he  quickly  grasped  the  situation  and  began  laying 


240        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

plans  to  put  the  work  he  had  undertaken  on  a  broad  and 
sure  foundation. 

He  overcame  the  handicap  of  fresher  and  better  goods 
in  the  hands  of  his  rivals  by  trading  for  these  goods  the 
sealskins  which  the  English  traders  could  not  get,  and 
then  with  the  goods  thus  secured,  he  bought  the  sea  otter 
skins  and  thus  prevented  his  rivals  from  getting  them. 

He  settled  the  question  of  more  certain  and  more  reg- 
ular supplies  by  deciding  to  build  ships.  He  chose  what 
is  now  known  as  Resurrection  Bay  as  the  site  for  his  ship- 
building venture  and  soon  the  mountains  of  Kenai  Penin- 
sula resounded  with  the  sound  of  the  axe  and  the  crash  of 
falling  trees.  Many  needed  materials  of  course  were 
lacking  but  he  did  not  despair.  Iron  was  collected  from 
the  pieces  of  wrecks.  Steel  for  axes  was  prepared  from 
the  same  material.  In  regard  to  the  difficulties  of  the 
work  he  wrote  a  friend,  "  We  have  only  half  a  keg  of 
tar,  three  kegs  of  pitch,  not  a  pound  of  oakum,  not  a  single 
nail  and  very  little  iron  for  so  large  a  vessel."  But  Bara- 
nof  was  a  resourceful  man  and  in  1794  the  first  ship 
built  on  the  Pacific  coast  was  launched.  The  vessel  was 
of  spruce  timber,  seventy-three  feet  in  length,  with  three 
masts.  The  calking  above  the  water  line  was  done  with 
moss,  and  for  paint,  tar  and  whale  oil  was  used.  The 
sails  consisted  of  pieces  and  scraps  of. canvas.  The  result 
was  a  number  of  sheets  of  different  qualities  and  colors. 
The  strangely  compounded  paint  was  unequal  in  color  and 
gave  the  hull  a  spotted  appearance. 

But  poorly  built  and  uncouth  looking  as  it  was,  it  dem- 
onstrated that  ships  could  be  constructed  here  and  marked 
a  decided  step  forward  in  the  affairs  of  the  company. 
Work  was  at  once  commenced  on  other  vessels  and  Bara- 
nof  began  laying  plans  for  more  extended  trading  and 
colonization  operations. 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  241 


At  this  opportune  time  the  merging  of  the  Shehkof 
Company  with  other  independent  companies  and  eventu- 
ally the  establishment  of  the  Russian-American  Company 
gave  him  the  support  needed  for  these  plans  and  helped 
to  the  realization  of  two  of  his  great  ambitions,  the  in- 
corporation with  Russia  of  the  whole  of  northwestern 
America  and  the  prevention  of  other  nations  from  estab- 
lishing a  trade  with  the  natives. 

To  carry  out  these  purposes  he  decided  to  locate  a 
permanent  settlement  in  the  vicinity  of  Norfolk  Sound 
where  Sitka  now  is.  The  first  settlement  here  was  at- 
tacked by  natives  and  practically  wiped  out,  but  the  second 
colony  was  more  successful,  and  in  1804,  Sitka,  or  Novo 
Arkhangelsk  as  it  was  then  called,  was  established  after  a 
fight  in  which  the  natives  were  disposed  of.  A  residence 
for  Baranof,  barracks,  a  fort  with  a  stockade,  and  other 
buildings  were  erected.  A  flour  mill,  a  sawmill,  a  tan- 
nery, a  shop  for  repairing  nautical  instruments,  cooper 
and  smith  shops,  a  foundry,  a  shipbuilding  plant,  were 
from  time  to  time  started  and  the  little  colony  became  a 
busy  place.  Spades  and  plowshares  were  manufactured 
and  the  bells  used  in  some  of  the  missions  in  California 
were  cast  here.  Vegetable  gardens  were  also  planted  and 
cattle  raised. 

Though  Baranof  was  growing  old  he  did  not  stop  with 
the  advance  to  Sitka.  He  reached  out  for  trade  with  Cali- 
fornia and  even  founded  a  colony  there  and  turned  his 
eyes  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  endeavored  to  extend 
the  business  of  his  company  there.  But  as  the  years  crept 
on  he  finally  asked  to  be  relieved  and  though  his  request 
was  disregarded  for  a  long  time,  it  was  at  last  granted 
and  a  successor  was  appointed. 

The  record  of  his  long  service  was  one  of  absolute 
honesty  and  this  at  a  time  and  among  a  people  not  noted 


242        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

for  this  trait.  But  in  all  the  complicated  accounts  of  the 
vast  enterprise  not  a  discrepancy  was  to  be  found  and  cash 
accounts  involving  millions  were  in  perfect  order.  He 
seems  to  have  been  ambitious  for  the  company  rather  than 
desirous  of  furthering  his  own  interests  in  any  way. 

In  appearance  he  is  described  as  below  the  medium 
height,  thin  and  sallow  in  complexion  and  with  scanty, 
red-tinged,  flaxen  hair,  fringing  a  bald  crown.  In  later 
years  he  wore  a  black  wig  tied  to  his  head  with  a  black 
handkerchief.  When  seventy,  life  and  energy  sparkled 
in  his  eyes.  He  was  abstemious  in  his  eating,  for  he  rose 
early  and  ate  but  one  meal  a  day,  but  he  was  said  to  be  a 
hard  drinker  and  the  feasts  he  gave  which  ended  usually  in 
a  state  of  intoxication  for  all  present  are  matters  of  rec- 
ord. But  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  those  days  drink- 
ing, and  especially  with  the  Russians,  was  a  customary 
matter. 

He  was  said  to  have  a  furious  temper  but  he  was  ex- 
tremely gentle  with  his  daughter  and  was  wax  in  her 
hands.  He  was  most  particular  as  to  her  training,  and 
once  upon  discovering  the  governess  whom  he  had  em- 
ployed to  educate  this  daughter,  drinking,  he  drove  the 
woman  from  the  house.  At  the  banquets  he  gave  at 
which  there  was  much  music  and  singing,  as  well  as  feast- 
ing and  drinking,  he  always  sent  his  daughter  away  as 
soon  as  he  began  to  feel  the  effects  of  his  potations. 

The  long  years  in  this  new  country,  many  of  them  filled 
with  hardships  of  the  most  extreme  kind,  no  doubt  did 
much  to  make  him  rough  and  uncouth  and  to  cause  him 
to  find  his  pleasures  in  the  gratification  of  appetites.  But 
these  faults,  which  undoubtedly  grew  in  a  large  measure 
from  his  environment,  were  insignificant  in  comparison 
with  the  work  accomplished.  In  summing  up  his  achieve- 
ments an  historian  says  of  him.  **  lie  was  the  moving 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  243 


and  directing  spirit  of  Russian  America.  When  he  came 
to  the  colony  he  found  a  post  at  Three  Saints  built  of 
alder  and  plastered  with  clay  and  the  sub-stations  ex- 
tended only  to  Kodiak  and  Cook  Inlet.  He  left  an  em- 
pire in  extent  whose  outposts  were  at  Ross,  California,  on 
the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  the  Kurile  Islands.  He  built 
churches  and  established  schools.  Ten  vessels  were  con- 
structed under  his  management  in  the  territory  and  four 
others  at  Ross.  He  introduced  cattle  at  Kodiak,  Una- 
laska,  Unga,  Sitka  and  Ross.  There  were  five  hundred 
head  of  cattle  at  Kodiak  during  his  time.  He  extended  his 
trade  to  California,  to  China  and  to  the  Sandwich  Islands. 
The  Russian  possessions  in  the  new  world  attained  their 
widest  extent  under  the  direction  of  Baranof." 

He  died  x^pril  16,  1819,  on  his  way  home,  and  was 
buried  at  sea. 

Naval  officers  took  Baranof's  place,  men  who  had  not 
grown  up  with  the  enterprise  as  had  Baranof  and  who 
knew  little  of  the  practical  work  to  be  done.  Behind  them 
were  officers  and  directors  in  Russia  who  knew  nothing 
of  the  conditions  in  Alaska.  It  was  government  from  a 
distance  with  inexperienced  and  often  indifferent  people 
in  charge  of  the  immediate  work.  As  a  consequence  busi- 
ness suffered  and  profits  fell  off.  Boundary  troubles,  too, 
arose.  When  the  company's  charter  had  been  renewed 
in  1821,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  company  was  established 
over  all  the  territory  from  the  northern  cape  of  Van- 
couver Island  to  Bering  Strait  and  beyond  and  to  all 
islands  of  that  coast  as  well  as  those  between  it  and 
Siberia.  Thus  Russia  by  ukase  took  possession  of  this 
vast  territory.  The  Spanish  and  French  had  practically 
withdrawn  all  claims,  but  the  British,  through  the  Hudson 
Bay  and  other  companies,  had  posts,  if  not  actually  within 
the  territory  claimed  by  the  Russians,  at  least  on  its  out- 


244        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

skirts,  and  both  British  and  American  vessels  were  trad- 
ing in  Russian  waters.  In  regard  to  these  latter  Russia 
made  certain  stringent  regulations  that  raised  a  storm  of 
protest  and  led  in  1822-23-25  to  a  voluminous  diplomatic 
correspondence  and  finally  to  a  convention  in  which  the 
boundary  was  fixed  and  certain  concessions  made.  It  was 
in  regard  to  this  dispute  that  in  a  message  to  Congress  in 
1823,  President  Monroe  first  gave  formal  promulgation 
to  what  has  become  known  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  so 
Alaska  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  inspiration  of  Amer- 
ica for  Americans.  In  this  message  in  referring  to  the 
boundary  dispute  in  the  Northwest  at  issue  between  Rus- 
sia, Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  and  the  attempt 
made  by  Russia  to  exclude  foreigners  from  commerce  and 
fishing  in  the  disputed  waters.  President  Monroe  said: 
"  The  occasion  has  been  judged  proper  for  asserting  as  a 
principle  in  which  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  United 
States  are  involved  that  the  American  continents  by  the 
free  and  independent  conditions  which  they  have  assumed 
and  maintained  are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as 
subject  for  future  colonization  by  any  European  Power." 
Various  governors  were  appointed  by  Russia  from 
time  to  time,  among  them  being  Baron  Wrangell,  Etolin 
and  others,  who  have  left  their  names  either  on  the  history 
or  the  geography  of  Alaska.  Life  at  Sitka  during  these 
years  was  gay  and  bright.  Captains  and  officers  of  the 
various  vessels  that  frequented  these  waters  were  enter- 
tained, and  there  were  banquets,  balls  and  many  festivi- 
ties. Governor  Etolin  established  a  .social  club  furnished 
with  reading,  billiard,  card  and  supper  rooms.  The  li- 
brary, which  had  been  founded  in  1805,  contained  in  1835 
nearly  two  thousand  volumes  and  about  four  hundred 
pamphlets  and  periodicals.  Just  recently  a  handsome  oil 
portrait  of  Peter  the  Great  was  found  in  a  pile  of  rubbish. 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  245 


All  of  which  shows  that  this  part  of  the  world  in  these 
years  was  not  the  wild,  uninhabited  region  many  have 
thought  it  to  be. 

During  this  period  exploration  expeditions  were  sent 
out  by  the  Russians,  some  of  them  penetrating  to  some 
distance  into  the  interior,  others  making  investigations 
along  the  coast. 

The  charter  of  the  company  was  again  renewed  in 
1841,  and  at  this  time  an  order  was  given  by  the  gov- 
ernor that  no  intoxicating  liquors  were  to  be  sold  in  the 
colonies.  This  was  quite  a  blow  to  the  Russian  tempera- 
ment for  it  had  not  at  that  time  any  prohibition  inclina- 
tions. When  the  order  was  read  to  the  servants  of  the 
company  it  is  said  that  they  could  not  refrain  from  tears, 
and  speaking  of  these  sad  times  one  of  the  men  said,  "  I 
remember  Father  Baranof.  There  was  a  time  when  a 
camp  kettle  was  set  out  brimming  full  and  he  would  shout, 
*  Drink,  children! '  and  he  would  himself  join  in  a  merry 
song.  But  now  what  times  have  we!  We  can  do  noth- 
ing but  work,  and  when  that  is  done  we  promenade  or 
smoke  in  the  barracks.  What  a  life !  You  see,  we  all  have 
to  join  this  temperance  society,  which  is  some  kind  of 
sect,  and  must  pay  a  beaver  skin  apiece  to  join,  a  big 
price  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of  drinking  nothing  but 
water.  One  man,  who  was  a  German  who  joined,  in  a 
few  weeks  was  dead.  God  knows  where  he  is  now.  I  do 
not  think  there  is  much  room  for  Dutchmen  in  heaven, 
so  many  Russians  go  there." 

With  the  coming  of  the  Crimean  War  Russia  began  to 
have  doubts  as  to  the  wisdom  of  a  domain  so  far  away. 
Later  when  the  time  came  for  the  renewal  of  its  charter 
by  the  Russian  Company  it  refused  the  terms  the  govern- 
ment gave.  The  vast  territory  was  now  practically  with- 
out oversight.     Discussions  had  already  been  under  way 


246        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

as  to  the  United  States  taking  it  and  proposals  had  been 
made  it  is  said  as  early  at  1859.  Five  million  dollars 
were  at  this  time  offered  for  it,  though  not  officially.  The 
story  is  told  that  a  company  of  citizens  applied  to  Mr. 
Seward  to  assist  them  in  purchasing  Alaska  to  carry  on 
a  fish,  fur  and  timber  trade,  and  that  he,  finding  Russia 
willing  to  sell,  secured  the  territory  not  for  the  company 
but  for  the  country.  Negotiations  were,  however,  con- 
tinued which  culminated  in  1867  in  the  purchase  by  the 
United  States  of  Russian  America  for  the  sum  of  $7,200,- 
000,  the  cession  to  be  free  and  unencumbered  by  any 
reservation,  privileges,  franchises,  grants  or  possessions 
by  any  associated  companies  whether  corporate  or  incor- 
porate, Russian  or  other.  The  treaty  was  signed  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  March  30,  1867,  and  was  rati- 
fied in  May. 

William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  at  this  time,  is 
the  one  to  whom  the  chief  credit  for  the  successful  com- 
pletion of  the  negotiations  is  due,  though  he  was  ably 
seconded  by  the  eloquence  of  Charles  Sumner,  who  made 
an  address,  now  historic,  on  the  subject  before  Congress. 
It  is  to  Sumner  that  we  owe  the  adoption  of  the  beautiful 
Indian  name,  Alaska,  for  in  this  memorable  speech,  he 
said :  "  Clearly  any  name  borrowed  from  classical  history 
or  from  individual  invention  will  be  little  better  than  a 
misnomer  or  a  nickname  unworthy  of  such  an  occasion. 
The  name  should  come  from  the  country  itself.  It  should 
be  indigenous,  aboriginal.     Happily  such  a  name  exists." 

The  formal  transfer  was  made  October  18,  1867.  The 
Russian  Commissioner,  Captain  Alexei  Pestchourof,  the 
American  Commissioner,  General  L.  H.  Rousseau,  and  a 
company  of  United  States  infantry  landed  at  Sitka, 
marched  to  the  governor's  residence,  which  had  once  been 
Baranof's  Castle,  and  with  a  brief,  simple  declaration  the 


Alaska's  Romantic  History  247 


Russian  flag  was  hauled  down,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  run 
up,  a  few  salutes  fired  and  Alaska  was  an  American  pos- 
session. 

Since  the  acquisition  of  Alaska  a  few  international  mat- 
ters have  come  up  from  time  to  time,  chiefly  with  Great 
Britain,  for  settlement.  But  they  have  all  been  amicably 
arranged.  One  of  the  most  recent  of  these  was  the  boun- 
dary question  which  was  settled  by  an  international  tri- 
bunal of  British  and  American  jurists  in  London  in  1903. 
The  dispute  involved  the  interpretation  of  the  words  in 
the  early  treaties  of  1825  which  in  certain  phrases  were 
decidedly  vague,  and  the  determination  w^hether  the 
coastal  boundary  should  cross  or  pass  around  the  heads 
of  the  fiords  of  the  coast.  The  boundary  as  fixed  in  the 
early  Anglo-Russian  treaty  of  1825  was  as  some  one  has 
said,  "  an  ideal  and  not  a  physical  boundary."  It  did  not 
fit  in  with  geographical  facts.  All  questions  in  dispute 
were,  however,  finally  satisfactorily  settled. 

A  commission  was  later  appointed  to  mark  the  boun- 
dary line  where  it  runs  northward  from  the  coast  to  tlie 
Arctic  Ocean  between  Alaska  and  Canada.  This  was  a 
far  more  arduous  matter  than  deciding  the  disputed 
points.  In  speaking  of  this  actual  surveying  work  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Commission  said,  "  The  treaty  makers  laid  a 
ruler  on  a  map  and  said,  '  This  shall  be  the  dividing  line.' 
But  marking  it  in  that  way  and  marking  that  line  through 
an  unknown  wilderness  were  vastly  different." 

The  Commission  was  five  years  finishing  its  task  and 
this  boundary  is  said  to  be  the  straightest  of  the  world's 
surveyed  lines.  It  runs  for  six  hundred  miles  from  the 
St.  Elias  Mountains  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  over  great  moun- 
tain ranges,  glaciers,  swift  rivers,  quicksands,  bottomless 
morasses.  Wherever  that  line  laid  on  the  map  went,  the 
Commission  had  to  follow  even  though  it  might  range 


248        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

over  some  seemingly  inaccessible  peak  or  pass  through 
an  impossible  morass.  High  summits  were  crossed, 
raging  torrents  forded,  camps  made  on  glaciers.  Every 
obstacle  of  the  wilderness  was  fought  and  conquered  and 
at  last  the  Arctic  reached. 

The  line  consists  of  a  vista  twenty  feet  wide  cut 
through  all  timber,  of  monuments  set  at  intervisible 
points  not  more  than  four  miles  apart,  and  of  a  detailed 
map  of  the  strip  of  country  two  miles  each  side  of  the 
boundary.  At  prominent  river  crossings  and  at  main 
points  of  travel,  the  monuments  are  sectional  shafts  five 
feet  high  of  aluminum-bronze,  weighing  three  hundred 
pounds,  set  in  a  ton  of  concrete.  At  less  important 
points,  the  monuments  are  three  feet  high  and  set  in  fif- 
teen hundred  pounds  of  concrete. 

The  romance  of  this  marking  of  the  boundary  is  not 
the  least  interesting  of  the  many  unusual  and  picturesque 
features  of  Alaska's  history.  But  from  the  coming  of 
Bering  and  Chirikof  to  the  present  day  the  annals  of  this 
territory  are  full  of  the  tragic,  the  pathetic,  the  pictu- 
resque, the  colorful,  the  unusual.  The  more  minutely  one 
looks  into  it,  the  more  does  the  voice  of  humanity  speak 
here  in  many  tones. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 


FORESTS    AND    FLOWERS 


a  rich  carpet  of  wild  flowers  throughout  the  territory. 
Wild  berries  in  profusion.    Some  wild  vegetables.     Dense 

AND   valuable   FORESTS. 

In  few  things  is  Alaska  more  surprising  to  the  person 
who  visits  it  for  the  first  time  than  in  its  vegetation. 
Mountains  and  glaciers  and  icebergs  the  traveller  expects 
to  see.  Bear  and  caribou  and  moose  belong  to  the  country 
quite  as  naturally.  In  the  general  thought,  the  Alaskan 
stage  is  set  with  such  scenery.  But  to  find  the  land  a  sheet 
of  vivid  wild  flowers,  to  become  entangled  in  almost  trop- 
ical jungles,  to  see  luscious  berries  hanging  in  a  profusion 
never  before  known  is  to  come  upon  the  unexpected.  If 
told  before  going  that  this  is  what  one  will  find  the  in- 
formant is  apt  to  be  looked  upon  as  qualified  for  imme- 
diate membership  in  the  Ananias  Club. 

But  this  very  delightful  surprise  is  in  store  for  those 
unfamiliar  with  Alaska  in  summer.  There  are  areas 
where  the  ground  is  blue  with  lupines,  rosy  with  fireweed 
or  a  rich  tapestry  of  varied  colors  from  many  wild- 
flowers.  There  are  thickets  of  skunk  cabbage  and  devil's 
club  and  bushes  and  ferns  and  moss  that  are  tropical  in 
their  luxuriance.  The  skunk  cabbage  grows  so  large  that 
its  leaves  suggest  those  of  the  banana  plant  and  the  foliage 
of  the  devil's  club  is  easily  more  than  a  foot  in  width. 
These  dense  thickets  are  higher  than  the  top  of  an  auto 
spinning  along  the  roads  that  wind  through  them.  They 
could  not  be  penetrated  without  the  aid  of  an  axe  to  chop 

249 


250        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

the  way.  High  over  this  dense  underbrush  tower  spruce 
and  hemlock  and  cedar,  the  spruce  trees  sometimes  reach- 
ing a  height  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 

Much  dehght  is  added  to  the  pleasure  of  travelling  in 
Alaska  by  this  profusion  of  wild  blossoms.  The  beauty 
of  the  Inland  Passage  is  enhanced  by  the  clumps  of  bril- 
liant fireweed  and  other  flowers  that  brighten  sunny  points 
of  land  or  perch  wherever  they  can  get  a  foothold  amidst 
the  rocks.  When  the  Yukon  steamers  stop  for  wood,  the 
grassy  meadows  are  aflame  with  the  flowers  of  the  sea- 
son —  great  fragrant  wild  roses  perhaps,  or  jewel-like 
columbine,  or  dainty  bluebells.  The  roads  are  lined  with 
brilliant  borders  of  fireweed,  marguerites,  daisies,  golden- 
rod.  It  is  a  land  of  lovely  color,  the  air  fragrant  with 
the  breath  of  the  blossoms,  the  pungent  odor  of  ever- 
greens and  fresh  with  the  invigorating  coolness  of  snow 
peaks. 

Because  of  the  abundance  of  snow-capped  mountains 
and  glaciers  and  icebergs  many  have  thought  of  Alaska 
as  a  region  of  little  vegetation.  But  flowers  and  grasses 
and  bushes  grow  on  the  glaciers  almost  at  the  edge  of 
snow  peaks  and  some  flowers  have  even  been  found  on 
the  glittering  blue  icebergs  floating  serenely  on  the  sap- 
phire waters.  The  many  hours  of  sunshine  and  the 
powerful  heat  of  the  sun  overcome  the  chill  of  the  ice. 
Its  only  efifect  upon  the  vegetation  is  to  provide  moisture. 
Wherever  sufficient  soil  has  lodged  on  the  glaciers  or 
snow  to  give  vegetation  root,  it  will  be  found  to  be  grow- 
ing. On  the  icy  banks  at  the  foot  of  the  Childs  Glacier  is 
a  thicket  of  alders,  willow  and  grasses  so  dense  that  it 
shuts  off  part  of  the  view  and  tourists  complain  because 
the  railroad  does  not  cut  it  away.  Yet  if  the  soil  in  which 
this  vegetation  is  growing  is  examined  it  is  found  to  be 
a  mixture  of  ice  and  earth.    Some  one  has  said  that  spring 


IVild  Floicn-s 


Forests  and  Flowers  251 

comes  with  a  shout  in  Alaska,  and  truly  it  does.  It  leaps 
joyously  and  exuberantly  to  life  with  the  long,  warm, 
sunny  days,  and  snow  peaks  and  glaciers  and  icebergs  look 
on  approvingly  and  send  their  waters  to  aid  it. 

Almost  all  the  wild  flowers  of  the  temperate  zones  are 
to  be  found  in  Alaska.  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of 
the  wild  blossoms  because  it  has  been  taken  for  the  Terri- 
torial flower  is  the  forget-me-not.  It  is  a  pure,  brilliant 
blue  with  a  yellow  centre,  the  blossom,  though  tiny,  a 
trifle  larger  than  the  bloom  in  the  States.  The  plant 
grows  a  foot  high.  It  gives  the  impression  of  greater 
strength  and  vividness  than  the  flower  as  most  of  us 
know  it.  A  handful  of  the  dainty  blooms  seems  like  a 
bit  of  the  sky  so  wonderful  is  the  color. 

Of  the  countless  other  blossoms  it  is  difficult  to  say 
which  impresses  the  most.  The  fireweed  is  in  its  season 
a  sheet  of  flame  over  almost  the  whole  of  Alaska.  It 
grows  sometimes  a  yard  high,  is  covered  with  a  rose- 
magenta  blossom,  and  is  found  in  single  stalks  or  dense 
patches  wherever  it  can  discover  an  inch  of  soil  for 
flaunting  its  radiant  beauty.  The  road  on  the  trail  from 
Fairbanks  to  the  coast  is  lined  with  it.  Even  through  the 
dark  spruce  and  birch  woods  it  runs  a  ribbon  of  color  by 
the  side  of  the  roadway. 

Wild  roses  might  also  be  said  to  be  an  universal  flower. 
They  grow  larger  and  are  more  fragrant  in  Alaska  than 
elsewhere.  Burbank  has  said  that  the  wild  rose  of  Alaska 
is  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world. 

The  lupines  are  numerous,  and  the  wild  pea,  a  rosy 
flower  growing  perhaps  a  foot  high,  spreads  itself  in 
great  sheets.  One  of  the  loveliest  of  the  wild  flowers  is 
the  bluebell,  clusters  of  dainty  little  bells  hanging  grace- 
fully on  drooping  stems  possibly  a  foot  or  so  high.  The 
buds  are  a  delicate  pink  and  occasionally  there  are  pink 


252        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

bells,  a  color  combination  that  is  ravishing.  In  some 
places  a  larger  blue,  bell-shaped  flower,  which  has  been 
called  the  wild  harebell,  is  to  be  found.  This  does  not 
grow  so  high  as  the  bluebell,  but  its  lovely  blossoms, 
barely  lifting  their  heads  from  the  ground,  have  a  care- 
less grace  that  is  enchanting. 

Wild  violets  are  to  be  found  in  quantity  in  the  early 
spring,  large,  with  stems  a  foot  long,  and  in  some  sec- 
tions with  a  delicious  fragrance.  Wild  lilies  of  the  valley 
are  another  bloom  of  delicacy  and  sweetness. 

But  a  list  of  the  wild  flowers  of  Alaska  would  be  a  list 
of  the  beauties  of  the  floral  kingdom.  Daisies  of  many 
kinds  are  here,  and  asters  in  variety.  Wild  geranium, 
lady's  slipper,  buttercups,  larkspur,  dandelion,  heather, 
gentian,  all  and  many  others  are  to  be  found. 

The  ground  dogwood  powders  the  earth  with  its  snowy 
blossoms,  water  lilies  and  flags  make  gay  the  marshy 
places.  One  of  these  lilies  is  yellow  with  reddish  edges  to 
its  golden  petals  and  with  a  red,  yellow  and  green  centre 
that  is  a  marvellous  bit  of  floral  architecture.  Dwarf 
rhododendrons  and  other  bushes  add  their  burden  of  blos- 
soms to  the  general  profusion  and  wild  grasses  wave 
their  slender,  graceful  heads  in  delicate  shades  of  purple, 
lavender,  russet  and  green. 

Wild  berries  are  to  be  found  in  variety  and  profusion. 
At  one  place  along  the  coast  in  the  southeastern  part  are 
miles  of  wild  strawberries.  Not  many  miles  from  White 
Horse  is  a  patch  fifteen  miles  long  and  four  miles  wide 
where  they  grow  so  thickly  that  in  the  early  days  the 
miners  picked  them  by  the  gallon,  put  them  in  watertight 
casks  in  alternate  layers  of  berries  and  sugar,  placed  these 
casks  in  the  icy  waters  of  mountain  streams  and  pre- 
served the  berries  for  months.  Often  they  lasted  till 
winter,   when   they    froze,   and   the   miners   had    frozen 


Forests  and  Flowers  253 

strawberries  to  deliciously  top  off  their  bacon  and 
bannock. 

Many  of  the  housewives  of  Alaska  still  use  this  method 
of  preserving  their  berries,  except  that  they  put  them 
in  stone  jars  in  their  cellars.  The  cellars  of  many  Alas- 
kan homes  are  really  cold  storage  plants,  for  they  are  dug 
in  ice.  Blueberries  are  kept  this  way  without  fermenting 
in  many  a  cellar  in  Fairbanks  until  February. 

Both  high  and  low-bush  blueberries  or  huckleberries 
grow  in  abundance  in  almost  all  parts  of  Alaska,  being 
found  on  the  Seward  Peninsula  in  the  vicinity  of  Nome. 
The  huckleberries  that  grow  well  up  on  the  mountains  are 
a  half  inch  and  more  in  diameter  and  particularly  delicious 
in  flavor.  The  bushes  are  from  three  to  four  feet  high. 
In  lower  regions  a  different  variety  not  so  large  is  found 
on  bushes  three  to  seven  feet  high.  The  Indians  gather 
these  berries,  also  salmon  and  service  berries,  dry  them 
over  a  slow  fire,  beat  them  to  a  paste,  and  make  them  into 
cakes  about  an  inch  thick.  They  also  preserve  the  huckle- 
berries in  oil,  and  Eskimo  ice  cream  consists  of  berries 
mixed  with  oil  and  reindeer  fat  until  foamy  and  then 
partly  frozen. 

High  and  low-bush  cranberries  also  grow  plentifully 
and  have  a  delicious,  spicy  flavor.  Salmon  berries  are 
abundant,  big,  delicious  berries  that  drop  in  the  hand  with 
a  touch  and  which  grow  along  the  roadside  and  in  tangled 
thickets  in  many  parts  of  the  Territory.  Wild  currants, 
both  black  and  red,  abound  and  are  remarkable  for  the 
size  of  the  fruit  and  the  length  of  the  branches. 

It  has  been  estimated  there  are  wild  berries  in  Alaska 
sufficient  for  every  bird,  beast  and  human  being  in  the 
Territory  and  with  thousands  of  gallons  to  spare. 

Wild  onions,  parsnips,  celery  and  rhubarb  are  to  be 
found  but  are  not  much  used,  though  Mr.  S.  J.  Marsh,  a 


254        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

prospector  and  geologist,  says  one  could  make  his  way  to 
the  Arctic  Ocean  and  live  on  the  wild  vegetables,  berries, 
game  and  fish  to  be  found.  Reverend  A.  P.  Kashevaroff, 
a  Russian  missionary  who  spent  many  years  in  Alaska,  has 
made  quite  a  study  of  the  edible  wild  greens  and  herbs. 
He  speaks  of  a  wild  cucumber  plant  whose  shoots  re- 
semble asparagus  tips  and  grow  from  five  to  six  inches 
high.  The  plant  has  been  given  this  name  because  these 
shoots  have  the  odor  and  taste  of  cucumber.  He  also 
describes  a  plant  called  goose  tongue  that  grows  on  tide 
lands  and  looks  like  grass.  When  freshly  gathered  and 
prepared  in  the  right  way  it  is  as  wholesome  and  delicious 
as  spinach.  Wild  parsley,  he  says,  can  be  used  in  the  raw 
state  for  seasoning,  the  same  as  ordinary  garden  parsley, 
or  it  can  be  cooked  as  greens.  It  grows  all  over  the  Terri- 
tory. Wild  rice  is  another  widely  distributed  plant  useful 
for  food.  The  root  is  white,  about  the  size  of  a  small 
walnut,  and  is  composed  of  small  bulbs  resembling  rice 
grains.  It  can  be  used  in  place  of  potatoes.  He  even 
tells  of  a  willow  that  resembles  Brussels  sprouts  and  is 
tender  and  juicy. 

Seaweed  and  kelp  are  found  abundantly  in  the  waters 
ofiF  the  shore.  The  Indians  use  some  of  these  seaweeds 
for  food,  drying  them  in  the  summer  and  making  them 
into  a  pudding  in  the  winter. 

The  wild  flowers  are  beautiful  and  the  berries  delicious, 
but,  commercially  speaking,  the  forests  are  the  asset  of 
value.  The  total  area  of  the  forests  and  woodlands  is 
estimated  at  about  one  hundred  million  acres.  Of  this 
about  twenty  million  acres  contain  lumber  suitable  for 
manufacturing  purposes,  which  is  more  than  the  area  of 
South  Carolina,  and  nearly  that  of  Maine  or  Indiana.  Of 
the  remainder,  one  half  is  classed  as  woodland  carrying 
some  saw  timber  but  on  which  the  trees  are  small  in  size, 


Forests  and  Flowers  255 


scattered  and  valuable  chiefly  as  fuel.  The  other  tree 
growth  throughout  the  Territory  is  mostly  stunted  in 
character,  scrubby  and  of  little  value.  Originally  almost 
half  of  the  surface  of  Alaska  was  covered  with  timber  of 
some  kind,  but  in  some  sections  much  of  this  has  been 
cut  away  owing  to  the  needs  for  fuel. 

Practically  all  the  merchantable  timber  of  the  Territory 
is  now  embraced  within  two  national  forest  reserves,  the 
Tongas,  covering  the  entire  southeastern  archipelago,  and 
the  Chugach  National  Forest,  extending  along  the  coast 
from  the  Malaspina  Glacier  to  Cook  Inlet.  The  timbered 
areas  in  both  of  these  national  forests  are  chiefly  on  the 
thousands  of  large  and  small  islands  along  the  coast. 

The  timber  is  dense,  as  much  as  twenty-five  thousand 
feet  per  acre  having  been  estimated  in  some  places.  The 
Chugach  Forest  is  deceptive  looking,  for  the  timber  along 
the  shore  is  often  scrubby,  with  dead  trees  much  in  evi- 
dence. But  in  the  forest,  spruce  two  to  three  feet  in 
diameter  and  one  hundred  feet  high  is  found.  A  single 
tree  will  often  cut  a  thousand  board  feet,  and  from  ten 
thousand  to  twenty  thousand  feet  per  acre  has  been  cal- 
culated as  the  output  in  some  places.  In  southeastern 
Alaska,  spruce  six  feet  in  diameter  and  two  hundred  feet 
high  has  been  found. 

The  timber  includes  Sitka  spruce,  western  hemlock,  red 
and  yellow  cedar  and  a  scattering  of  other  kinds.  The 
Sitka  spruce  is  in  great  demand  for  airplanes.  It  is 
tough,  pliable,  light  and  free  from  defects.  Quite  a  lum- 
ber industry  has  sprung  up  in  this  part  of  Alaska  due  to 
this  demand.  A  number  of  new  sawmills  have  been 
started  and  are  filling  large  orders. 

The  timber  of  this  region  is  also  used  for  boxes,  es- 
pecially for  the  canneries,  for  furniture,  piano  backs,  and 
oars  for  racing  boats.     Its  greatest  use,  however,  is  for 


256        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

paper  pulp  of  which  the  world  is  at  present  suffering  from 
a  shortage.  This  industry  could  spring  up  in  scores  of 
places  along  the  coast,  prove  profitable  to  its  owners  and 
greatly  reduce  the  cost  of  certain  essentials  for  the  people 
of  the  States. 

The  forests  of  the  interior  consist  of  white  birch,  pop- 
lar, balsam-poplar,  black  cottonwood  and  aspen.  The 
timber  is  small  and  is  used  mainly  for  fuel  purposes  and 
for  building  the  log  houses  of  traders  and  settlers.  These 
forests  are  being  rapidly  decimated  as  they  are  the  chief 
source  of  fuel  for  mining  and  steamboat  needs.  When 
Alaska's  coal  is  opened  up  and  transportation  makes  its 
available,  these  forests  will  have  an  opportunity  to  re- 
cuperate. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE   WILD  ANIMAL  LIFE 


A     GREAT     GAME     COUNTRY.      CaRIBOU     IN     ABUNDANCE.      ALASKA 
MOOSE    THE    LARGEST    OF    ITS    KIND.      ThE    BIG    KODIAK    BEAR. 

Birds  in  great  variety. 

One  of  the  charms  of  Alaska  is  the  wild  animal  life 
that  roams  so  freely  over  the  mountains,  valleys  and 
tundra,  and  the  fish  that  leap  so  joyously  in  the  streams. 
If  the  country  had  no  wealth  of  minerals,  no  fertile  val- 
leys, no  towering  snow  peaks,  or  beautiful  rivers,  its 
abundant  and  varied  animal  life  would  still  be  a  lure. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  that  nature 
offers  here. 

Of  the  larger  animals  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  which 
is  the  more  abundant  or  best  known.  Honors  could 
probably  be  divided  among  the  caribou,  the  moose  and 
the  bear.  The  caribou  is  perhaps  less  generally  known 
than  the  moose  or  the  bear  and,  therefore,  more  interest- 
ing. It  has  been  called  the  wild  reindeer  and  in  the 
records  of  the  early  explorers  of  Alaska  was  generally 
called  reindeer.  But  it  is  not  the  reindeer  of  Norway 
or  Sweden  and  which  has  recently  been  introduced  into 
Alaska,  though  reindeer  herders  of  the  Territory  have 
discussed  the  possibility  of  interbreeding  their  herd  with 
caribou.  The  name  is  said  to  be  a  contraction  or  cor- 
ruption of  caire  hccuf,  "square  ox,"  a  term  appHed  to 
the  animal  by  the  French  Canadians. 

There  are  two  varieties,  the  woodland,  which  is  about 
four  feet  high  and  weighs  between  three  and  four  hun- 

257 


258        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

dred  pounds,  and  the  barren  ground  caribou,  which  is 
much  smaller.  It  frequents  marshy  and  swampy  grounds 
and  is  fond  of  ice-covered  lakes.  It  lives  on  mosses, 
leaves,  grass  and  lichens,  and  became  known  as  reindeer 
because  it  eats  what  has  been  called  reindeer  moss. 

The  flesh  is  excellent  as  food  and  the  tongue  and  kid- 
neys are  considered  great  delicacies.  The  hair  is  said  to 
have  floating  qualities  superior  to  cork.  The  Eskimos 
make  coats  and  sleeping  bags  from  the  skin  that  are 
light  in  weight  and  impervious  to  the  cold. 

Stories  are  being  circulated  as  to  its  extermination. 
But  it  still  roams  Alaska  in  countless  herds.  A  miner 
within  the  year  ran  across  a  migration  which  he  roughly 
estimated  to  number  ten  thousand.  Others  have  seen 
herds  estimated  to  number  fifty  thousand.  At  certain 
seasons  they  migrate  and  at  these  migrations  follow  cer- 
tain well-known  routes.  These  "  crossings,"  as  they  are 
called,  are  known,  and  it  is  at  these  places  where  they 
are  seen  in  their  greatest  numbers.  A  description  of  a 
recent  crossing  witnessed  shows  that  these  animals  are 
as  numerous  as  they  were  fifty  years  ago.  "  For  forty 
miles  we  were  running  through  one  continuous  mass  of 
caribou,"  says  this  man.  "  The  narrow  valley  and  high 
bald  mountains  on  each  side  all  the  way  swarmed  with 
animals.  Never  before  did  I  have  the  slightest  idea  of 
what  a  herd  of  caribou  signifies." 

The  moose  of  Alaska  is  of  the  kind  to  delight  the 
heart  of  the  big  game  sportsman.  It  is  a  tremendous 
animal,  the  largest  of  its  kind,  and  is  so  big  that  it  has 
been  classed  by  itself  as  a  separate  species.  It  has  a  tre- 
mendous spread  of  antlers,  a  spread  of  from  five  to  six 
feet  being  not  uncommon.  It  is  found  in  many  parts  of 
Alaska,  the  only  exception  being  perhaps  the  southeast- 
em  section.     Those  of  the  Kcnai  Peninsula  are  the  larg- 


The  Wild  Animal  Life  259 

est  in  size.  Tourists  often  have  the  good  fortune  to 
see  one  of  these  great  animals  swimming  a  small  stream 
or  across  a  cove  or  bay. 

In  color  the  moose  is  brownish,  except  the  legs  which 
are  yellowish.  It  feeds  in  the  early  morning,  again  at 
noon  and  in  the  evening,  its  food  being  the  leaves  and 
tender  branches  of  the  birch,  alder  and  such  trees.  In 
summer  it  is  rather  solitary,  but  in  winter  it  gathers  in 
small  parties  in  what  are  termed  moose  yards. 

The  baby  moose  is  a  gentle,  playful  animal  with  large 
beautiful  eyes  and  is  often  made  a  pet.  In  fact  in  almost 
every  town  in  Alaska  some  one  has  a  pet  baby  moose. 
As  it  grows  older,  it  usually  returns  to  the  woods  or  is 
shipped  by  its  owners  to  some  zoological  garden  in  the 
States. 

Bears  are  so  numerous  in  Alaska  that  in  many  parts 
they  are  a  pest.  It  is  doubtful  if  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world  they  are  found  in  such  numbers  and  such  va- 
riety. At  least  thirteen  different  kinds  are  said  to  be 
distributed  over  the  Territory,  though  they  fall  under 
four  general  types,  the  brown,  grizzly,  black  and  polar 
bear. 

The  fame  of  the  brown  or  Kodiak  bear  of  Alaska  has 
spread  the  world  over.  He  is  the  largest  of  all  known 
bears  and  is  truly  a  giant  in  size.  Measure  for  yourself 
a  length  of  from  ten  to  twelve  feet,  imagine  if  you  can 
a  weight  of  fourteen  hundred  to  sixteen  hundred  pounds 
and  you  will  get  some  idea  of  the  Kodiak  bear.  His  skin 
when  spread  out  resembles  in  size  a  buffalo  skin.  Until 
these  skins  are  actually  seen  one  can  scarcely  believe  bears 
of  such  size  exist.  But  after  viewing  the  plentiful  num- 
ber of  these  skins  to  be  found  in  Alaska  and  visualizing 
as  best  one  can  the  animal  that  has  inhabited  them,  these 
enormous  bears  become  a  reality.     They  are  as  ferocious 


260        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

as  they  are  large.  Many  people  have  been  killed  by  them, 
and  the  stories  of  narrow  escapes  are  numerous.  Cattle 
are  attacked  by  them,  and  on  Kodiak  Island,  where  at- 
tempts are  being  made  at  cattle  raising,  many  cattle  have 
been  destroyed.  At  present  they  are  protected  in  this 
region  by  game  laws  for  the  benefit  of  the  big  game 
hunters,  but  Alaskans  believe  that  these  game  laws  should 
be  repealed  owing  to  the  increase  of  these  animals  and 
the  multiplying  frequency  of  their  depredations. 

The  grizzly  bear  is  met  with  more  often  than  is  desired 
by  miners  and  prospectors.  He  is  found  most  generally 
in  the  mountains  of  the  Yukon  country  and  in  the  Mt. 
McKinley  and  Copper  River  regions  and  in  the  Kenai 
Peninsula.  Silvertip  is  the  name  commonly  given  the 
Alaska  variety  from  the  fact  that  the  points  of  his  light 
gray  hair  are  white. 

The  black  bear  is  common  and  very  numerous  in  nearly 
all  parts  of  Alaska.  He  is  seen  prowling  the  woods, 
making  his  dinner  off  the  luscious  berries  growing  thickly 
there.  Often  while  whirling  along  in  an  auto,  one  of 
these  black  bears  will  be  seen  lumbering  off  through  the 
woods  frightened  from  his  meal  by  the  machine.  This 
black  bear  is,  as  a  rule,  inoffensive,  and  will  not  disturb 
one  if  not  molested. 

The  glacier  bear  is  a  species  of  the  black  bear.  It  is 
found  principally  in  the  mountains  of  the  St.  Elias  range 
but  it  is  little  known.  It  is  hoary  gray,  resembling  some- 
what a  silver  fox,  sometimes  with  a  bluish  tinge.  Its 
nose  is  black,  its  feet  brown.  Its  coloring  has  something 
of  the  gray-blue  beauty  of  the  glacier  with  its  sombre 
touches  of  shadows  and  moraines  and  thus  it  gets  its 
name. 

The  polar  bear  is  found  in  the  Arctic  regions.  One 
does  not  hear  as  much  of  it  as  of  the  other  bears  of 


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The  Wild  Animal  Life  261 

Alaska.  But  it  is  quite  numerous  in  the  unfrequented 
parts  of  the  Arctic,  and  according  to  Vilhjalmur  Ste- 
fansson  quite  unafraid  of  man.  Polar  bears,  lured  by 
the  smell  of  seal  meat,  came  into  his  camp  in  large  num- 
bers and  could  not  be  frightened  away.  They  had  to  be 
shot. 

The  mountain  sheep  and  the  mountain  goat  are  other 
prized  game  animals  of  Alaska.  They  are  not  so  easily 
hunted  as  the  bear,  moose  and  caribou  as  they  haunt  the 
higher  mountain  peaks.  They  are  found  in  goodly  num- 
ber in  the  mountains  of  the  interior.  One  section  of  the 
Coast  Mountains  is  known  as  the  Sheep  Hills  so  numer- 
ous are  the  mountain  sheep  here,  and  it  is  a  favorite 
hunting  ground  for  sportsmen.  The  flesh  of  the  moun- 
tain sheep  is  extremely  palatable  and  is  said  to  be  far 
more  delicious  than  that  of  the  domestic  mutton.  It  is 
claimed  by  those  who  know  the  Alaska  sheep  that  it  is 
very  different  from  the  bighorn  of  the  Rockies  and  that 
though  existing  here  for  years  has  only  lately  been 
brought  to  the  attention  of  scientists.  As  yet  very  few 
are  in  outside  collections. 

Deer  are  not  generally  abundant  in  Alaska.  One  species 
is  found  in  the  southeastern  coast  region,  a  small,  shy 
animal  that  ranges  from  the  sea  level  to  timber  line.  At 
one  time  quite  a  number  of  these  were  to  be  found  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Wrangell.  But  throughout  the  Terri- 
tory generally,  deer  are  little  found  in  comparison  with 
other  game  animals.  Lately  some  of  the  islands  off  the 
coast  have  been  stocked  with  deer  as  a  food  measure. 

There  are  some  wolves,  the  big  timber  wolf  being 
among  them,  but  they  are  not  much  hunted.  Far  north 
in  the  Arctic  region,  the  musk-ox  is  said  to  roam,  but 
few  authentic  reports  come  of  him  in  Alaskan  territory. 
This  animal  is  said  to  be  very  valuable  both  for  its  meat 


262        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


and  for  its  hair,  or  wool,  as  some  call  its  coat,  and  as 
there  are  vast  grazing  grounds  suitable  for  it  in  Alaska, 
its  introduction  and  propagation  as  an  industry,  it  is 
thought  by  many,  would  prove  more  profitable  than  that 
of  the  reindeer. 

Rabbits,  called  low  bush  moose  by  the  Indians,  Arctic 
hare  and  other  small  animals  abound. 

The  bird  life  of  Alaska  is  quite  as  prolific,  varied  and 
interesting  as  the  game.  With  the  coming  of  the  first 
warm  days  the  birds  begin  to  appear,  first  on  the  south- 
east coast  and  then  gradually  northward  until  the  woods 
and  streams  and  even  the  Arctic  tundra  are  alive  with 
the  flutter  of  their  wings  and  the  melody  of  their  songs. 
The  long  trough,  if  one  may  so  call  it,  between  the  moun- 
tains of  the  coast  and  those  of  the  interior  along  the 
western  part  of  the  continent  make  an  unobstructed  and 
pleasant  summer  route  to  Alaska  for  the  birds.  Across 
western  Canada  and  down  the  Yukon  affords  another 
passageway.  And  so  they  journey  northward  in  great 
flocks  and  add  to  life  in  the  far  Northland  their  beauty 
and  songs  and  lively  activity. 

Perhaps  no  one  welcomes  them  more  than  those  hving 
far  north  on  Bering  Sea  or  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Here 
the  arrival  of  birds  in  the  spring  is  eagerly  waited  for 
and  heralded  with  joy.  The  wild  goose  is  usually  the 
first  to  arrive.  The  ground  is  still  covered  with  snow, 
the  ice  pack  covers  the  sea  to  the  far  horizon.  All  is  yet 
white  and  cold.  But  in  the  interior  things  are  farther 
advanced,  and  from  there  some  fine  spring  morning  a 
wild  goose  starts  westward  and  northward.  High  over- 
head he  flies,  exulting  in  the  first  breath  of  spring  and 
uttering  his  loud  calls.  The  first  note  brings  white 
people  and  Eskimos  to  their  doors  and  the  shout  goes  up, 
"  Goose!  Goose!  "  and  they  know  spring  has  come.     The 


The  Wild  Animal  Life  263 

little  house  birds  do  not  arrive  so  soon,  but  some  warmish 
morning  when  the  snow  is  melting  and  little  streams 
running  noisily,  a  sharp,  "  Zip!  Zip!  "  is  heard,  and  the 
sparrows  have  arrived. 

Miners  and  prospectors  in  lonely  cabins  welcome  the 
birds  as  joyfully  as  do  the  dwellers  by  Arctic  seas.  One 
of  them  speaking  of  the  first  thrush  of  the  season  said: 
"  I  was  in  the  mountains  just  a  little  way  off  the  Yukon 
when  suddenly  a  bird  began  to  sing,  the  sweetest  bird 
song  I  think  I  ever  heard.  It  was  clear  and  joyous  like 
a  bobolink,  and  strong  like  a  robin,  and  sweet  like  a 
thrush.  It  began  at  first  low  and  soft  and  grew  louder 
and  louder  and  stronger  and  stronger  until  it  seemed  to 
fill  the  air.  I  stood  perfectly  still  enjoying  it  and  trying 
to  see  the  bird.  Finally  I  discovered  him  on  a  dead  tree. 
It  was  a  thrush." 

The  thrushes  are  well  represented  in  Alaska.  One 
hears  them  in  the  thickets  up  the  mountain  sides  at 
Ketchikan  and  finds  them  in  many  places  during  his  jour- 
ney throughout  the  country.  Even  at  midnight  during 
the  season  when  it  is  light  their  songs  will  peal  forth. 

But  many  other  old  friends  are  here,  the  red-breasted 
nuthatch,  the  chickadee,  the  robin,  the  warbler,  the  finch, 
sparrows  in  variety,  kingfishers,  woodpeckers,  wagtails 
and  swallows.  To  the  far  north  comes  the  longspur,  a 
beautiful  bird  with  head  and  breast  jet  black,  white  stripes 
back  of  the  eyes,  the  back  of  the  neck  reddish,  and  the 
back  black  and  brown.  His  song  is  suggestive  of  the 
skylark's,  for  he  seems  so  full  of  the  ecstasy  of  life  that 
he  must  mount  in  the  air  to  pour  it  forth.  He  rises 
slowly,  pauses  a  moment,  and  then  sinks  gently  down, 
pouring  out  his  exquisite  liquid  notes.  They  are  not 
so  powerful  as  those  of  the  lark  but  they  are  wondrously 
sweet  and  pure. 


264        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

The  jay  does  not  forget  Alaska  and  he  is  little  better 
liked  here  than  elsewhere.  He  is  variously  called  whis- 
key jack,  camp  robber,  moose  bird  and  the  like,  and  he  is 
found  well  distributed  over  the  Territory.  A  dweller  in 
the  Arctic  tells  of  an  encounter  with  one  that  bespeaks 
almost  a  sense  of  humor  in  the  bird.  The  camper  and 
his  companion  had  made  a  fire  of  driftwood  and  prepared 
and  eaten  their  breakfast  close  to  a  little  patch  of  leafless, 
scraggly  willows  near  the  shore  of  Bering  Sea.  The 
bushes  were  stunted  and  little  more  than  stems  and 
branches  and  one  would  not  think  of  a  bird  taking  refuge 
in  them.  Breakfast  over,  the  party  launched  their  skin 
boat  and  started  away,  but  with  the  first  stroke  of  the 
paddle  a  shrill,  exultant  note  sounded  from  the  shore  and 
made  them  stop  and  look  back.  There  on  the  tip  of  the 
largest  willow  was  a  jay.  Both  his  attitude  and  cries 
seemed  to  denote  an  impish  delight  in  their  present  sur- 
prise and  their  failure  to  see  him  when  within  a  few  feet 
of  them  at  breakfast.  After  seeming  to  enjoy  their 
amazement  for  a  few  moments,  he  fell  upon  the  scraps 
they  had  left  and  made  his  breakfast. 

The  dainty  little  humming  bird  is  found  along  the 
southeast  coast  and  sometimes  in  the  valleys  at  the  head- 
waters of  the  Yukon. 

Alaska  has  many  game  birds.  Chief  of  these  is  the 
ptarmigan,  which  is  found  well  distributed  throughout 
the  Territory.  There  are  several  species,  the  largest 
being  a  good-sized  bird  weighing  possibly  a  pound  or  a 
pound  and  a  half.  This  has  a  large  "  meaty  "  breast  and 
is  good  eating.  The  plumage  of  the  ptarmigan  in  the 
.summer  is  a  mottled  buff  and  brown.  In  the  winter  this 
changes  to  a  snow  white  and  when  a  flock  of  birds  sud- 
denly rises  from  the  ground,  the  effect  is  that  of  an  ex- 
plosion of  the  snowy  surface.     Tn  their  winter  dress  the 


The  Wild  Animal  Life  265 

ptarmigan  are  difficult  to  detect  against  the  blank  white- 
ness of  the  tundra  and  hills.  They  are  such  a  valuable 
food  supply  for  the  far  north  that  they  should  not  be 
allowed  to  be  ruthlessly  hunted. 

Birds  of  prey  are  numerous  and  include  owls  of  va- 
rious kinds,  eagles  and  hawks.  Ravens  are  found  in 
great  numbers.  At  Wrangell,  Sitka  and  other  southeast 
coast  towns  they  are  to  be  seen  about  the  villages,  and 
even  as  far  west  as  Unalaska,  they  perch  in  large  numbers 
on  the  roofs  of  houses  and  hop  around  among  the  chick- 
ens as  unafraid  as  the  fowls  themselves.  They  seem 
to  take  great  delight  in  flying,  and  enter  with  zest  into 
aerial  nose  and  dive  and  tail  spins  that  would  make  a 
modern  ace  look  like  a  neophyte.  They  will  drop  a  long 
distance  in  a  series  of  head  over  heels  somersaults  that 
make  one  dizzy  to  watch,  finishing  with  a  long  glide  on 
almost  motionless  wings.  They  seem  to  delight  to  take 
these  spectacular  flights  during  high  gales  as  if  revelling 
in  the  wind  and  the  struggle  with  the  elements.  All  the 
birds  of  a  colony  will  gather  and  soar  and  turn  and  twist, 
uttering  at  the  same  time  a  medley  of  strange  cries  and 
croakings  that  makes  the  exhibition  both  weird  and 
exhilarating. 

The  water-birds  of  Alaska  are  noted.  If  the  Terri- 
tory had  no  other  bird  life  its  water-fowl  would  still 
make  it  take  a  prominent  position  in  the  bird  life  of 
the  country.  In  some  places  they  literally  swarm  the 
coasts  and  islands  by  the  millions.  The  cliffs  of  the 
Pribilof  and  Diomede  Islands  are  thronged  with  murres, 
murrelets,  auklets,  cormorants  and  gulls,  and  when  dis- 
turbed they  fill  the  air  with  whirring  forms  that  make 
the  islands  appear  like  some  new  kind  of  beehive. 

The  Aleuts  eat  auklets  and  catch  them  with  nets  much 
after  the  fashion  of  butterfly  hunting. 


266        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Gulls  are  incredibly  numerous  all  along  the  coast. 
They  swarm  about  the  canneries  in  the  fishing  season 
and  are  extremely  picturesque  perched  in  long  sedate 
rows  on  the  tops  of  the  buildings.  There  are  several 
kinds  of  gulls  in  the  Territory,  those  of  the  Bering  Sea 
and  Arctic  regions  being  the  most  distinctive.  The  large 
jaeger  or  skua  is  found  here  and  has  been  called  by  the 
Eskimo  the  "  cannibal  "  because  of  a  tradition  that  at 
one  time  it  ate  men.  The  largest  Alaska  gulls  are  those 
that  reach  the  far  north  and  whose  cry  in  the  spring  is 
most  welcome  to  the  seal  hunter  far  out  at  sea  on  fields  of 
ice,  because  they  are  the  first  birds  to  reach  these  far 
regions,  and  he  knows  spring  is  at  hand. 

Ducks  are  numerous,  including  the  eiderdown,  also 
swans,  loons  and  geese.  Among  the  geese  is  the  beau- 
tiful emperor  goose  with  its  snowy  head,  dusky  throat, 
and  satiny  gray  body,  each  feather  with  a  distinctive 
black  and  gray  marking. 

At  times,  especially  upon  the  approach  of  a  storm,  these 
various  water-birds  join  in  a  grand  chorus.  Thousands 
sometimes  take  part,  and  if  some  Wagner  were  only 
present  to  translate  it  into  instrumental  form  it  would 
make  a  majestic  and  impressive  concert.  The  bugling 
of  swans,  the  clanging  of  geese,  the  peculiar  note  of  the 
loon,  the  calls  of  ducks,  the  cries  of  gulls  and  terns,  the 
birds  all  apparently  in  a  state  of  great  excitement,  make 
a  medley  of  sound  that  melts  into  an  harmonious  whole 
of  novel  melody  and  beauty. 

Asia  contributes  some  birds  that  add  to  the  interest 
of  Alaskan  bird  life.  Some  twenty  si)ccies  of  birds  of 
the  Old  World  have  been  found  on  the  coasts  of  western 
Alaska.  The  golden  plover,  a  curlew  that  winters  in  the 
Polynesian  Islands,  teal,  sand-pipers,  the  Siberian  red- 
spotted,    blue-throated    warbler,    the    tufted    duck,    the 


The  Wild  Animal  Life  267 

Kamchatkan    cuckoo    and    the    Japanese    hawfinch    are 
among  the  number. 

One  bird  of  Ahiska  that  attracts  much  attention  is  the 
tufted  puffin.  Sailors  call  it  the  sea  parrot  because  of 
its  gay  headdress,  but  its  frivolous  head  wear  in  no- way 
makes  it  coquettish.  It  is  an  exceedingly  staid,  dignified 
bird  and  the  contrast  between  its  red  bill  and  plumes, 
nodding  like  cap  tassels,  and  its  grave,  solemn  demeanor 
is  almost  funny.  It  spends  much  time  standing  abso- 
lutely silent  and  motionless  before  its  burrows,  and  it 
rarely  emits  a  sound  except  when  caught  and  hurt  and 
then  it  groans  in  a  low,  mournful  fashion. 

The  plumage  is  darkish,  but  this  sombre  effect  is  re- 
lieved by  the  brilliance  of  the  decorative  touches.  The 
face  is  white  and  is  prolonged  each  side  behind  into  long, 
waving  feather  horns  of  a  rich  deep  straw  color.  The 
eyelids  are  a  brilliant  red  as  is  also  the  large  strong  beak 
finished  off  at  the  base  with  a  touch  of  green.  The  feet 
are  bright  vermilion.  Truly  gorgeous  are  these  birds  as 
they  stand  at  the  entrance  to  their  burows,  for  they  make 
their  homes  and  nests  in  tunnels  three  to  four  feet  deep 
and  so  close  together  that  an  acre  of  ground  will  hold 
almost  three  thousand  of  these  burrows. 

The  baby  puffin  is  a  real  little  puff  ball  of  down  and 
fat  and  it  is  thought  that  it  is  his  appearance  that  has 
given  the  name,  for  he  easily  could  be  blown  away,  so 
downy  is  he,  were  it  not  for  his  too,  too  solid  flesh. 

The  Aleuts  capture  these  birds  for  their  flesh  and  their 
tough  skin,  which  is  used  for  making  the  parka,  the  warm 
winter  garment  of  the  Eskimo.  About  fifty  puffin  skins, 
feather  side  in,  make  a  garment  almost  impervious  to 
cold. 


CHAPTER    XX 

the  rich  mineral  resources  of  the  territory 

The  gold  output  and  methods  of  mining.  Valuable  copper 
DEPOSITS.  The  coal  and  oil  scarcely  yet  touched.  Prac- 
tically   THE    ONLY    tin    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    ALASKA. 

Other  minerals  in  variety.    The  Bureau  of  Mines  and  its 

HELPFUL  assistance. 

Alaska  is  incredibly  rich  in  minerals.  Its  gold  at- 
tracted first  notice,  and  for  years  held  public  attention, 
but  to-day  its  copper  and  coal  are  coming  prominently  to 
the  fore.  But  there  are  few  minerals  which  Alaska  does 
not  possess.  It  is  a  great  treasure  house  only  a  few  doors 
of  which  have  been  opened  and  through  these  but  the 
merest  entrance  has  been  made  to  the  domain  within. 
With  the  exception  of  a  few  large  mining  companies 
working  with  the  latest  machinery  on  an  extensive  scale, 
and  this  has  been  done  only  rather  recently,  mining  in 
Alaska  has  been  the  work  of  the  prospector  with  crude 
implements  and  the  need  of  getting  these  and  his  supplies 
to  his  camp  in  the  face  of  tremendous  handicaps  in  the 
way  of  transportation.  The  fact  so  often  stated  that  the 
surface  of  Alaska  has  only  been  scratched  is  quite  true. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  limited  nature  of  the  mining 
and  the  vast  territory  still  unexplored,  Alaska  since  its 
purchase  has  produced  more  than  $300,000,000  in  gold, 
$100,000,000  in  copper  and  other  minerals  to  bring  the 
total  close  to,  if  not  over,  the  half  billion  mark,  and  this, 
as  has  been  said,  from  comjiarativch'  small  areas,  and  in 
the  main  by  primitive  methods  of  mining. 

2G8 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    269 

Gold  has  been  discovered  in  widely  separated  areas  of 
Alaska.  In  fact  there  is  scarcely  any  place  in  Alaska 
where,  as  the  prospectors  say,  "  colors  "  cannot  be  found. 
The  Territory  would  seem  to  be  one  vast  gold  field.  But 
it  does  not  follow  that  gold  mining  is  carried  on  in  all 
parts  of  the  Territory.  The  cost  of  transportation  and 
the  lack  of  fuel  make  mining  unprofitable  in  many  places 
in  Alaska,  and  in  many  sections  where  gold  is  known  to 
exist  it  is  not  being  mined. 

At  present  gold  mining  is  being  carried  on  at  Ketchi- 
kan, at  Juneau,  at  various  places  on  the  Yukon  and  north 
of  the  river  toward  the  Arctic  region,  in  the  interior  at 
Fairbanks,  in  the  Kuskokwim  valley,  westward  on  the 
Kenai  and  Alaska  Peninsulas,  on  the  Seward  Peninsula, 
and  as  far  north  here  as  Candle  on  the  Arctic  Ocean.  This 
shows  how  widely  distributed  the  gold  is,  for  these  mines 
are  being  worked  profitably.  The  yield  from  the  Fair- 
banks section  in  one  year  has  been  as  high  as  $6,000,000, 
and  the  total  yield  since  its  discovery  there  has  been  more 
than  $66,000,000.  The  output  of  the  Seward  Peninsula 
since  gold  mining  began  there  has  been  more  than  $74,- 
000,000.  So  the  tale  could  run  from  one  section  to  an- 
other. Alaska,  in  its  short  gold  mining  history,  has 
poured  out  a  veritable  flood  of  the  precious  metal.  For 
it  has  been  less  than  forty  years  since  gold  was  discovered 
in  paying  quantity  and  only  about  twenty  years  since 
Alaska  has  been  systematically  and  earnestly  prospected 
for  gold. 

Gold  was  first  discovered  at  Juneau  in  1880,  at  Forty- 
mile  in  1886,  at  Circle  City  in  1894,  on  the  Kenai  Penin- 
sula in  1896.  Then  came  the  great  discovery  on  the  Klon- 
dike and  the  rush  of  miners  to  the  country.  The  over- 
flow from  this  poured  into  many  parts  of  Alaska  and  thus 
the  Fairbanks  district,  the  Copper  River  region,  Nome, 


270        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

the  Iditerod  and  the  Koyukuk  were  eventually  opened. 
But,  as  can  be  seen,  Alaska  is  yet  young  in  its  gold  pro- 
duction. 

The  greater  number  of  mines  in  Alaska  are  placer, 
though  the  output  of  the  few  quartz  mines  operating  al- 
most equals  that  of  the  many  placer  operations.  But 
placer  mining,  except  dredging  and  hydraulicking,  is  the 
simplest  and  easiest  method  of  mining  and  requires  the 
least  capital.  The  glittering  grains  and  nuggets  that  lie 
in  gravel  sometimes  in  the  bed  of  a  stream  or  in  the 
"  benches  "  on  the  sides  are  the  object  of  the  placer 
miner's  quest.  He  can  secure  them  with  so  little  of  an 
outfit  as  a  pan,  though,  of  course,  for  work  over  any  ex- 
tended period  of  time  he  will  need  more  implements  of 
work  than  a  pan. 

The  principle  of  placer  mining  is  to  wash  out  by  water 
the  gold  that  is  mixed  with  sand  or  gravel.  The  gold, 
being  heavier,  sinks  to  the  bottom  and  the  other  material 
is  carried  away. 

Although  a  miner  may  get  colors  on  a  creek,  to  secure 
the  gold  in  paying  quantity  he  must  go  to  bed  rock,  and 
this  necessitates  digging.  On  some  of  the  creeks  in  the 
Klondike  the  creek  bed  was  bed  rock,  which  accounts  for 
the  remarkable  amount  of  gold  taken  out  in  such  short 
periods  of  time.  The  work  was  merely  a  matter  of  sep- 
arating the  gold  from  the  waste  material.  But  this  con- 
dition seldom  occurs.  Usually  bedrock  must  be  reached 
by  digging,  and  in  some  cases  shafts  quite  deep  must  be 
sunk.  The  pay  dirt  is  brought  up  by  windlass  and  bucket, 
or  by  more  improved  methods  of  hoisting,  if  capital  is 
sufficient.  If  the  mine  is  in  the  side  of  a  hill,  the  gold- 
bearing  earth  is  brought  out  with  cars  and  cable.  It  may 
be  immediately  washed,  especially  if  the  work  is  done  by 
sluicing,  or  it  may  be  piled  up  in  what  are  called  dumps. 


aeWi,   *  .  <t^iss&^j  A.  ^ 


t^J^W^  %^'f '^"  ^> 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    271 

This  is  the  case  if  it  is  mined  in  winter.  Sometimes  it  is 
necessary  to  build  a  crib  about  these  dumps  to  enclose  the 
dirt. 

An  improvement  upon  panning  is  rocking.  This  is 
still  a  primitive  process,  but  it  shows  the  originality  and 
resourcefulness  of  the  miner  thrown  upon  himself  in 
the  wilderness  for  devices  to  hasten  and  shorten  his 
labor.  The  rocker  is  merely  a  box  with  rockers  on  it  like 
a  cradle  and  a  handle  nailed  on  it  with  which  to  do  the 
rocking.  On  the  top  is  a  screen  to  catch  the  coarser  ma- 
terial while  the  fine  drops  through  upon  a  slanting  board 
when  the  motion  of  rocking  carries  it  out  at  the  bottom 
and  the  gold  is  retained  on  a  ledge  or  cleat  nailed  on  for 
the  purpose.  The  water  necessary  for  the  separation  of 
the  gold  from  the  dirt  is  poured  in  by  hand.  Many  of 
these  old  rockers  are  to  be  found  in  the  gold  regions.  On 
some,  if  wire  screening  was  scarce,  sheets  of  tin  punched 
with  big  holes  were  used. 

If  a  good  supply  of  water  is  available  the  method  most 
commonly  employed  in  placer  mining  is  sluicing.  A  box 
is  made  as  long  as  space  and  materials  permit  with  the 
top  open  and  cleats  or  riffles  nailed  at  regular  distances 
apart  across  the  bottom.  Into  this  box  the  dirt  is  shov- 
elled or  dumped,  water  is  turned  in,  and  the  earth,  rocks, 
and  all  such  material  carried  along  by  the  force  of  the 
water  to  the  opening  at  the  end,  and  the  gold  which  sinks 
is  caught  by  the  riffles  at  the  bottom.  The  operation  of 
taking  the  gold  out  is  known  as  the  clean-up  and  is  the 
great  event  of  the  work,  for  it  tells  the  tale  of  success  or 
failure.  Sluicing  is  perhaps  the  easiest,  quickest  and 
most  profitable  method  of  placer  mining.  Any  one  who 
can  drive  a  nail  or  use  a  saw  can  make  a  sluice  box,  the 
dirt  is  shovelled  in,  and  the  water  does  the  rest. 

Dredging  and  hydraulicking  are  two  other  methods  of 


272        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

placer  mining.  But  these  require  considerable  capital. 
Gold  dredges  are  expensive.  Hydraulicking,  though  not 
so  costly  in  itself,  requires  an  enormous  quantity  of  water 
with  a  tremendous  pressure  and  this  usually  means  the 
building  of  a  ditch,  which  in  Alaska  is  expensive.  But 
both  dredging  and  hydraulicking  are  being  done  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Alaska.  Ores  that  will  not  yield  profitable 
returns  by  the  slow  hand  processes  can  be  worked  this 
way.  As  the  cost  of  mining  decreases  through  better 
transportation  and  lower  priced  fuel,  many  gold  areas  not 
being  mined  can  be  profitably  worked  by  dredge  or 
hydraulic. 

In  all  this  mining  in  Alaska  the  ground  has  to  be 
thawed.  This  is  done  with  wood  fires  built  right  on  the 
ground,  with  hot  boulders  or  with  steam.  Steam  is,  of 
course,  used  whenever  possible,  but  a  steam  plant,  even  of 
the  simplest  kind,  is  again  a  case  of  capital  and  not  all 
miners  can  afford  it. 

There  are  many  quartz  prospects  in  Alaska,  but  as  yet 
quartz  mining  is  not  done  extensively,  as  this  method 
means  a  large  plant  and  much  machinery.  The  chief 
quartz  mining  is  at  Juneau  in  the  mills  of  the  Treadwell, 
the  Alaska-Gastineau  and  the  Alaska-Juneau  mines.  These 
mines,  because  of  their  output,  are  famous.  Already  this 
section  alone  has  yielded  $75,000,000  in  gold  and  some 
of  these  mines  have  only  been  working  since  1915. 

John  Muir  when  in  Alaska  in  the  70's  expressed  the 
belief  that  valuable  quartz  lodes  would  be  found  on  the 
mainland  east  of  Baranof  Island  and  that  the  true  min- 
eral belt  would  follow  the  trend  of  the  shore.  His  words 
have  proved  true,  for  though  what  is  known  as  the  Juneau 
gold  belt  is  somewhat  northeast  of  this  island  it  extends 
for  a  distance  north  and  south  along  the  coast  and  in  this 
belt  much  of  the  richest  gold  mining  of  Alaska  has  been 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    273 

done.  It  is  all  quartz  practically  and  from  thirty  to 
thirty-eight  per  cent  of  the  gold  output  of  Alaska  is  from 
this  one  section. 

Gold  was  discovered  at  Juneau  by  Richard  Harris  and 
Joe  Juneau  in  1880.  They  discovered  it  in  the  mountains 
back  of  Juneau  whence  the  Alaska-Gastineau  and  Alaska- 
Juneau  mines  now  draw  their  ore.  The  discovery  of  the 
famous  Treadwell  lode  on  Douglas  Island  across  the  chan- 
nel was  made  by  a  French  Canadian,  Pierre  Erussard, 
known  as  French  Pete.  He  was  married  to  an  Indian  and 
lived  on  the  beach  near  the  Indian  settlement,  not  far 
from  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Juneau.  With 
his  wife's  brothers  and  some  other  Indians  he  landed 
on  the  beach  of  Douglas  Island  one  November  morning  in 
1880,  about  a  month  after  gold  had  been  found  by  Harris 
and  Juneau  in  the  canyon  near  his  home.  It  was,  no 
doubt,  the  excitement  of  this  discovery  that  made  his 
gaze  unusually  keen.  An  outcrop  of  gold-bearing  quartz 
on  the  hillside  caught  his  eye.  A  little  creek  was  trickling 
down  the  slope,  its  waters  exposing  the  outcrop  of  white 
quartz.  This  little  creek  has  long  since  been  swallowed 
up  in  the  famous  Glory  Hole  of  the  Treadwell  mine  and 
its  clear  waters  changed  into  a  stream  of  gold.  But  here 
is  was  that  French  Pete,  as  he  was  called,  made  his  dis- 
covery. 

He  received  little  benefit  from  it  himself,  but  sold  his 
claim  to  John  Treadwell  for  $505.00  to  pay  a  pressing 
bill. 

One  month  after  French  Pete  made  his  discovery  a 
handful  of  prospectors  from  Sitka  on  their  way  to  the 
strike  made  by  Juneau  and  Harris  also  landed  on  Doug- 
las Island,  attracted  by  what  seemed  to  be  the  outcropping 
of  a  quartz  lode.  One  of  them  scooped  up  a  pan  of  gravel 
from  the  base  of  the  lode  on  the  beach  and  washed  it  out. 


274        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

The  find  was  so  rich,  the  prospector  excitedly  shouted, 
"We  have  it,  boys,  almost  the  ready  bullion!"  They 
staked  their  claims  and  called  the  mine  the  Ready  Bullion. 
It  is  to-day  part  of  the  Treadwell  group  and  at  present 
the  only  mine  being  worked.  A  cave-in  has  occurred  in 
the  other  mines  of  the  Treadwell  Company  and  they  are 
flooded  with  water.  But  the  rich  ore  is  still  there  and 
the  company  is  hard  at  work  devising  plans  to  resume 
mining  in  them.  The  three  which  at  this  writing  (1918) 
are  not  being  worked  are  the  Treadwell,  the  Mexican  and 
the  Seven  Hundred.  These  with  the  Ready  Bullion 
comprise  the  Treadwell  group. 

In  the  early  days  the  mining  here  was  all  done  in  open 
pits  or  glory  holes.  The  Treadwell  glory  hole  became 
world  famous  because  of  the  amount  of  gold  taken  out. 
But  finally  the  depth  reached  became  so  great  that  under- 
ground mining  had  to  be  resorted  to  and  that  is  the 
method  employed  at  present. 

Out  under  Gastineau  Channel,  over  which  the  boats 
loaded  with  tourists  sail  so  serenely,  the  ore  is  being 
mined,  loaded  on  trams  and  sent  to  the  shaft  where  it  is 
hoisted  not  only  the  thousands  of  feet,  for  the  depth 
reached  is  already  twenty-eight  hundred  feet,  but  on  up 
a  half  hundred  feet  more  where  it  dumps  itself  with  a 
tremendous  crash  and  roar  and  rumble  and  comes  tearing 
down  chutes,  being  broken  into  smaller  pieces  en  route, 
until  it  reaches  the  stamp  rooms.  Here  stamp  batteries 
that  look  like  pipe  organs  in  work  clothes,  for  they  are 
black  and  grim  and  determined  and  weigh  twelve  hundred 
pounds  each,  pulverize  it,  and  on  it  goes  to  the  concentra- 
tion tables  whose  gentle  rocking  motion  mu.st  be  soothing 
after  its  rapid  and  violent  journey.  Here  the  sheep  and 
goats  of  the  mineral  world  are  separated,  the  one  to  do 
much  service  for  the  world  as  a  means  of  exchange,  the 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    275 


other  as  refuse  to  go  back  in  the  mine  to  fill  up  the  cav- 
ernous space  made  there  by  the  dredging  of  the  ore. 

The  noise  in  these  stamp  mills  is  indescribable.  The 
voice  has  absolutely  no  power  to  make  an  impression. 
One  can  talk  with  all  the  strength  he  has  but  seemingly 
he  makes  no  sound.  The  sensation  is  extremely  odd.  One 
knows  he  is  talking  with  all  his  lung  power,  yet  apparently 
no  sound  issues  from  his  lips.  John  Burroughs  says, 
"  Niagara  is  a  soft  hum  beside  Treadwell." 

The  rock  before  it  is  crushed  and  made  to  yield  its 
golden  product  is  most  ordinary  looking.  One  would 
never  suspect  it  of  hiding  anything  of  value  within  its 
commonplace  exterior.  Here  and  there  one  may  see,  if  it 
is  pointed  out,  a  pin  point  of  glittering  material.  But 
that  is  all.  Yet  the  Treadwell  mines  alone  have  produced 
$67,000,000  in  gold.  The  ore  yields  but  two  dollars  to 
the  ton,  scarcely  worth  working  some  might  think.  But 
the  large  quantity  handled  and  the  cheapness  of  operation 
make  the  work  profitable. 

The  Treadwell  mines  are  modern  in  every  way.  Far 
back  in  the  mountains  on  the  mainland  a  ditch  brings 
water  to  a  big  electric  plant  where  electricity  is  generated 
and  carried  on  thick  cables  to  the  mines.  Compressed  air 
is  used  for  much  of  the  work.  Water  power  and  steam- 
generated  electric  power  are  also  used.  Crude  oil  is  used 
for  generating  steam  either  for  power  or  heat  and  the 
company  has  a  storage  capacity  in  steel  tanks  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  thousand  barrels.  The  annual  consump- 
tion is  about  two  hundred  thousand  barrels  of  forty-two 
gallons  each. 

In  addition  to  the  actual  mining,  many  other  activities 
subsidiary  to  the  main  business  are  carried  on.  The 
company  maintains  machine  shops,  blacksmith  shops, 
boiler  shops,  sheet-metal  works,  a  foundry  and  carpenter 


276        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

shop  and  many  others.  It  provides  a  lodging  house  and 
mess  hall  where  excellent  meals  are  served,  conducts  a 
general  store  and  market  and  has  built  a  number  of  cot- 
tages for  employees  in  which  steam  heat,  electricity  and 
running  hot  and  cold  water  are  supplied.  There  are 
also  a  good  library  and  a  club  house  where  are  bowling 
alleys,  a  pool  room  and  various  means  of  recreation. 

The  methods  in  the  big  mines  on  the  mainland,  the  one 
at  Thane,  the  other  at  the  southern  end  of  Juneau,  are  a 
little  different.  The  ore  is  mined  back  in  the  mountains 
and  brought  through  long  tunnels  to  the  top  of  the  build- 
ings that  seem  to  cascade  down  the  mountain  side.  Here 
the  ore  cars  are  run  into  what  look  like  huge  iron  cylin- 
ders but  which  are  technically  known  as  tipples,  because 
by  rotating  they  tip  the  ore  out  into  bins  beneath  and  then 
it  begins  its  downward  journey.  It  is  fed  into  crushers 
with  huge  iron  jaws  and  then  into  various  other  compli- 
cated machines,  some  of  which  look  for  all  the  world  like 
huge  meat  choppers.  Thence  the  large  pieces  go  one 
road,  the  finer  material  another,  till  both  again  join  on 
travelling  conveyors  to  other  crushing  ore  bins  and 
feeders  and  ball  mills  where  if  not  yet  sufficiently  crushed 
they  are  thoroughly  pulverized.  The  ore  then  journeys 
to  settling  tanks  and  finally  to  the  gently  rocking  concen- 
tration tables  where  the  gold  settles  in  one  line,  the  silver, 
lead  and  iron  in  others,  making  very  pretty  color  effects, 
and  the  waste  material  runs  off  by  itself.  There  is  much 
re-treatment  in  these  mills  so  that  nothing  of  value  es- 
capes except  some  iron  which  is  not  found  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  be  worth  saving  by  any  present  process.  It 
is  believed,  however,  that  some  method  will  l)e  discovered 
by  which  it  will  be  found  profitaljlc  to  save  the  iron. 

These  mines  also  have  their  workmen's  homes,  their 
clubs,  and  one  has  a  big  hydro-electric  plant  with  a  con- 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    277 


Crete  dam  one  hundred  sixty-five  feet  high  and  seven  hun- 
dred twenty  feet  long  on  the  crest,  which  permits  the  de- 
livery of  six  thousand  horsepower  the  year  around.  A 
second  plant  of  twelve  thousand  horsepower  is  now  under 
construction. 

One  of  these  mines  can  handle  twelve  thousand  tons  of 
ore  a  day  and  is  planning  to  increase  its  capacity  to  twenty 
thousand  daily;  the  other  handles  eight  thousand  tons, 
making  a  total  of  twenty  thousand  tons  a  day  at  present, 
which  gives  some  idea  of  the  amount  of  mining  done  in 
these  groups  alone  and  of  the  value  of  the  products  of 
this  section.  There  are  several  other  quartz  mines  in  the 
vicinity  of  Juneau  which  though  not  working  on  so  ex- 
tensive a  scale  as  these  are  still  good  producers  and  help 
make  Juneau  one  of  the  most  prosperous  cities  in  Alaska. 

There  are  quartz  lodes  in  the  vicinity  of  Fairbanks  and 
on  the  Chandalar,  north  of  the  Yukon.  Those  near  Fair- 
banks it  is  believed  will  outclass  the  product  of  the  placer 
mines  there.  But  quartz  development  in  other  parts  of 
Alaska  is  waiting  lower  cost  of  transportation  and  fuel. 

The  large  companies  usually  melt  their  own  gold  and 
mould  it  into  bricks,  but  the  individual  miner  is  apt  to 
take  his  dust  to  a  bank,  where  he  either  sells  it  outright  or 
lets  them  melt  it  and  assay  it  and  then  pay  him  its  value. 

The  government  issues  bulletins  telling  how  to  acquire 
mining  claims  and  giving  the  latest  legislation  affecting 
them. 

The  copper  of  Alaska  may  prove  even  more  valuable 
than  its  gold,  for  comparatively  little  is  known  of  its 
copper  deposits  and  of  those  that  are  known  few  are  be- 
ing mined.  The  average  prospector  is  after  gold,  not 
copper,  for  gold  will  bring  him  immediate  returns  and  can 
be  mined  if  necessary  with  the  crudest  implements.  Cop- 
per mining  is  expensive.     It  requires  capital.     Thus  the 


278        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

copper  of  Alaska  has  not  had  the  attention  from  the  only 
class  that  has  so  far  penetrated  the  country  to  any  extent 
as  has  its  gold. 

The  presence  of  copper  has,  however,  long  been  known. 
The  Russians  heard  of  it  from  the  Indians  but  seemed  to 
have  little  accurate  knowledge  of  its  location  beyond 
the  fact  that  it  was  in  the  region  now  known  as  the  Cop- 
per and  White  River  district.  The  Indian  word  for  cop- 
per is  Chiti,  and  many  of  the  Indian  names  for  the  streams 
and  landmarks  of  this  section  were  compounds  of  this 
word,  such  as  Chitina,  Chititu  and  others. 

During  the  gold  rush  days  the  miners  that  came  in  by 
way  of  Valdez,  Cordova,  or  the  Prince  William  Sound  or 
Cook  Inlet  country  heard  tales  of  great  deposits  of  cop- 
per. Some  of  those  who  struck  across  country  for  the 
Klondike  or  Fairbanks  found  copper.  One  of  these  re- 
ported seeing  a  sheet  of  native  copper  a  half  inch  thick 
projecting  a  foot  from  the  face  of  a  cliff.  Others  reported 
copper  nuggets  ranging  from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  a  pump- 
kin in  the  gravels  of  valleys.  Veins  twenty  feet  wide  were 
seen  extending  for  miles.  Two  men  of  a  party  sent  to 
look  for  forage  for  horses  saw  a  green  stretch  on  a  hill- 
side which  they  took  for  good  pasturage  but  when  they 
reached  it  they  found  it  was  copper. 

But  no  matter  how  rich  were  the  finds,  they  were,  in 
the  main,  inaccessible.  These  deposits  lay  behind  barriers 
of  high  mountains,  in  among  glaciers,  with  rapid  turbu- 
lent rivers  as  the  only  thoroughfare,  and  so  though  some 
prospected  and  even  took  up  claims  little  actual  mining 
was  done. 

Then  capital  became  interested,  the  Copper  River  and 
Northwestern  Railroad  was  built  and  copper  mining  be- 
gan. In  one  week  in  1916,  six  ships  left  Cordova  with 
copper  ore  valued  at  $7,200,000,  the  price  paid  for  Alaska. 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    279 

But  the  work  is  yet  in  its  very  infancy.  Though  it  is  said 
there  is  a  billion  dollars'  worth  of  copper  in  sight  in 
Alaska,  and  though  there  has  been  found  one  nugget 
alone  that  weighed  three  tons,  the  cost  of  mining  is  so 
high  that  there  has  to  be  a  large  percentage  of  copper  in 
the  ore  to  make  the  work  pay.  All  the  ore  at  present  has 
to  be  shipped  to  the  States  to  be  smelted.  This  means 
much  re-handling  and  a  long  and  costly  journey.  There- 
fore, only  high  grade  ore  can  be  mined.  There  is  plenty 
of  coal  in  Alaska  suitable  for  smelters  and  it  is  right  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  copper  deposits.  When  this  is 
developed,  as  it  quickly  will  be  as  soon  as  the  government 
modifies  some  of  its  conservation  policies,  smelters  will 
be  erected  and  the  great  copper  deposits  of  Alaska  will 
pour  their  treasures  out  for  the  world. 

At  present  the  copper  deposits  of  the  Copper  River 
Valley  are  the  ones  best  known  and  most  worked  because 
of  the  railroad  here.  But  the  copper  zone  in  this  section 
extends  east  through  the  Wrangell  Mountains  to  the 
White  River  and  White  Horse  countries  and  westward  to 
the  coast  and  islands  of  Prince  William  Sound.  It  is 
estimated  by  geologists  that  if  the  copper  deposits  of  the 
Chitina  country  were  opened  and  all  other  copper  mines 
closed,  there  would  be  enough  copper  for  all  the  world's 
needs. 

It  is  found  also  on  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Ketchikan,  and  on  the  islands  of  this 
locality.  It  has  been  discovered  also  on  the  Alaska  Penin- 
sula, in  the  Knik  and  Turnagain  regions,  and  in  various 
other  places  on  the  Kenai  Peninsula.  Up  near  the  head 
of  Chilkat  River,  which  empties  into  the  Lynn  Canal,  it 
has  been  found,  and  a  belt  has  been  reported  southeast  of 
Fairbanks  in  the  Tanana  Valley.  But  as  has  been  said, 
nobody  knows  where  copper  may  be  found  in  Alaska  for 


280        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

it  has  not  been  looked  for  as  assiduously  as  gold  and  no- 
body can  hazard  a  guess  as  to  its  ultimate  value,  for  even 
in  some  of  these  regions  where  it  is  known  to  be  there  are 
no  transportation  facilities  whatever.  To  reach  these 
sections  with  mining  materials  costs  from  five  hundred  to 
two  thousand  dollars  a  ton  freightage.  With  such  a 
handicap,  copper  deposits,  no  matter  how  rich,  must  re- 
main undeveloped. 

Alaska  is  rich  in  coal.  The  United  States  Geological 
Survey  estimates  more  than  twelve  thousand  square  miles 
of  coal  deposits.  In  the  report  of  the  survey  it  is  stated 
that,  "  It  is  probably  safe  to  say  that  the  minimum  esti- 
mate of  Alaska's  coal  resources  should  be  placed  at  one 
hundred  and  fifty  billion  tons  and  that  the  actual  tonnage 
may  be  many  times  this  amount.  These  resources  are  far 
in  excess  of  the  original  supply  of  Pennsylvania."  And 
a  great  area  of  Alaska  is  as  yet  practically  unexplored. 

The  most  desirable  coal  fields  so  far  known  are  in  the 
Matanuska,  Nenana  and  Bering  River  regions.  The 
Matanuska  section  lies  to  the  eastward  of  Anchorage  and 
is  reached  by  the  government  railroad.  A  small  amount 
of  coal  is  being  mined  here  for  the  use  of  the  Alaska  En- 
gineering Commission.  The  saving  which  the  mining  of 
Alaska  coal  will  bring  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  even  this 
small  amount  of  mining  has  reduced  the  cost  of  coal  from 
sixteen  and  eighteen  dollars  a  ton  to  eight  and  ten  dollars. 
And  this  mining  is  but  the  very  beginning,  with 
neither  transportation  nor  mining  equipment  on  its  most 
efficient  basis. 

The  Matanuska  fields  are  about  seventy-five  miles  from 
Anchorage,  which  is  an  open  port  eight  months  in  the 
year.  But  the  government  railroad  runs  from  here  to 
Seward,  a  distance  of  something  more  than  a  hundred 
miles,  and  Seward  is  an  open  port  the  year  around,  so  that 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    281 

coal   can  be   delivered   to   tidewater   here   at  any   time. 

The  Bering  River  coal  fields  lie  to  the  eastward  of 
Cordova  near  Controller  Bay.  This  bay  has  not  good 
harbor  facilities  owing  to  shallowness,  else  these  coal 
fields  would  be  within  twenty-five  miles  of  tidewater. 
But  they  are  only  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  miles 
from  Cordova  by  rail  and  thirty-eight  miles  of  road  is 
already  constructed. 

The  coal  in  both  the  Matanuska  and  Bering  River  fields 
is  a  high  grade  coking  coal  with  some  anthracite.  A  test 
of  the  bituminous  coal  of  the  Matanuska  field  for  naval 
use  was  made  and  the  report  was  that  it  was  a  very  firable 
coal  easy  to  burn,  the  volatile  matter  appearing  to  be  fairly 
easy  to  drive  ofif.  The  smoke  was  somewhat  less  in  den- 
sity than  that  of  Pocahontas  and  not  as  black.  The  stokers, 
on  being  questioned,  said  it  was  the  easiest  twenty-knot 
run  they  had  ever  made.  These  bituminous  coals  are  said 
to  be  of  better  quality  than  any  found  on  the  Pacific  coast 
and  are  of  special  value  for  the  bunker  trade.  As  there  is 
a  scarcity  of  coking  coal  on  the  Pacific  coast,  this  coal 
when  mined  will  undoubtedly  find  a  ready  market  and  will 
not  only  mean  a  profitable  industry  for  Alaska  but  a  great 
help  to  the  industries  of  the  Pacific  States.  Its  only 
competitor  is  the  bituminous  coal  of  Vancouver  Island, 
but  this  is  of  inferior  quality  to  the  Matanuska  and  Bering 
River  coal  and  so  will  not  seriously  affect  its  sale. 

In  both  the  Matanuska  and  Bering  River  fields  there 
is  some  anthracite.  But  it  is  more  or  less  crushed  and  does 
not  produce  a  large  percentage  of  lump  coal.  But  there 
is  practically  no  anthracite  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  the 
possibility  of  getting  hard  coal,  even  though  not  of  the 
best  quality,  at  the  cost  at  which  Alaska  can  produce  it 
as  compared  with  the  cost  of  the  eastern  product,  will 
find  it  a  market. 


282        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

The  coal  of  the  Nenana  fields  is  lignite.  This  is  not  a 
coking  coal  but  it  is  an  excellent  coal  for  domestic  use. 
In  fact,  householders  prefer  it  to  bituminous,  it  is  so  clean. 
It  can  be  handled  without  leaving  any  more  trace  of  soil 
upon  the  hands  than  would  glass.  It  will  greatly  reduce 
the  cost  of  mining  throughout  the  interior  of  Alaska  and 
permit  the  working  of  low  grade  ores  now  undeveloped. 
Many  other  industries  dependent  upon  cheap  fuel  will 
spring  to  life  as  soon  as  the  mining  and  transportation  of 
this  lignite  is  under  way.  These  Nenana  fields  are  near 
the  route  of  the  government  railroad  and  not  far  from 
Fairbanks  and  their  opening  means  the  prosperous  de- 
velopment of  all  this  section. 

These  coal  fields  are  incredibly  rich.  By  actual 
measurement  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey 
seven  veins  have  been  reported,  one  above  another, 
giving  a  thickness  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-six  feet. 
Others  range  from  one  to  forty  feet,  and  a  careful  sum- 
mary estimates  the  coal  in  these  fields  as  close  to  ten 
billion  tons.  It  is  easy  to  see  what  the  placing  of  this  coal 
upon  the  market  will  mean  to  the  development  of  the  rich 
resources  of  interior  Alaska  which  are  only  waiting  for 
transportation  and  cheap  fuel. 

But  these  three  sections  are  merely  the  ones  that  have 
been  most  thoroughly  surveyed  because  two  of  them  are 
near  the  government  railroad  and  the  other,  the  Bering 
River  field,  is  close  to  the  Copper  River  railroad.  But 
many  other  parts  of  Alaska  are  known  to  have  their  coal 
deposits,  and  when  carefully  investigated  may  likewise 
prove  rich. 

On  the  Kenai  Peninsula  coal  has  long  been  known  to 
exist.  In  fact,  a  coal  mine  was  worked  here  by  Russians 
in  the  early  days  and  later  by  a  com])any  of  Russians  and 
Americans      The  geological  maps  indicate  a  larger  area 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    283 


than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Territory,  but  Httle  informa- 
tion is  yet  obtainable  in  regard  to  other  data  about  it. 
Coal  washes  up  on  the  beach  of  the  peninsula  in  some 
places  in  quite  sufficient  quantities  for  the  needs  of  those 
living  there,  and  salmon  canneries  and  fishing  vessels  get 
supplies  in  the  neighborhood  for  their  needs.  It  is  re- 
ported by  those  who  know  the  coast  that  in  some  places 
great  ledges  of  coal  are  to  be  found  in  the  bluffs  and  that 
one  could  secure  all  he  needed  from  these  ledges  if  an 
easier  method  of  getting  it  were  not  already  provided  by 
the  quantity  washed  up  on  the  beach.  As  these  deposits 
are  on  tidewater,  shipping  would  be  easier  and  less  ex- 
pensive than  from  the  interior. 

Coal  has  been  found  in  the  Seward  Peninsula,  as  far 
north  as  the  Arctic,  in  the  country  north  of  the  Yukon  and 
in  the  Kuskokwim  country.  In  the  Seward  Peninsula  a 
vein  of  coal  one  hundred  feet  wide  has  been  discovered 
and  probably  there  are  equally  rich  finds  yet  undiscovered. 
It  is  believed  by  many  that  Seward  Peninsula  has  enough 
coal  for  local  use.  Next  to  transportation,  if  not  indeed 
equalling  it,  cheap  fuel  is  the  Seward  Peninsula's  greatest 
need.  There  is  no  timber  worth  the  name  in  this  section 
with  the  exception  of  the  Council  district,  where  there  is 
some  small  spruce.  All  fuel  must  be  brought  in  from  the 
outside.  When  government  regulations  put  the  mining  of 
coal  on  a  more  practical  basis,  the  deposits  in  Seward 
Peninsula  will  be  of  great  help  in  developing  this  section. 

Another  rich  deposit  of  Alaska  is  tin.  There  are  prac- 
tically no  tin  mines  in  our  country,  yet  the  United  States 
uses  between  forty  and  fifty  per  cent  of  the  world's  output 
of  tin,  so  that  the  discovery  of  tin  in  Alaska  brings 
another  valuable  asset  to  the  country.  The  Alaska  tin  is 
said  to  assay  higher  than  English  tin  and  the  deposits  are 
claimed  to  be  greater. 


284        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland, 

The  metal  has  been  found  in  the  Seward  Peninsula, 
near  Fairbanks  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Circle  City. 
The  Seward  Peninsula  is  said  to  have  the  richest  deposits. 
In  one  claim  alone  the  quantity  of  tin  ore  in  sight  is  valued 
at  $2,000,000.  The  chief  deposits  are  in  the  York  dis- 
trict, which  is  to  the  northwest  of  Nome  on  the  coast  of 
Bering  Sea.  This  is  a  bleak,  inhospitable  region  difficult 
of  access  for  the  necessary  machinery  for  tin  mining,  but 
the  determination  and  endurance  of  the  Alaskan  prospec- 
tor are  no  better  shown  than  by  his  conquering  of  the 
obstacles  that  here  confront  him. 

The  York  Mountains,  which  are  steep  with  sharp 
ridges  and  also  bare  of  vegetation,  bound  the  region  on 
the  east  and  the  Cape  Mountains  on  the  west.  Between 
lies  the  York  Plateau,  a  tableland  which  is  in  reality  an 
old  marine  bench.  To  the  north,  along  the  Arctic  shore, 
stretches  a  broad,  low  tundra  with  many  sand  spits  and 
lagoons  on  the  coast  and  innumerable  ponds  scattered  over 
the  boggy  lowland.  It  is  not  an  inviting  country  and  life 
here  has  few  attractions,  but  despite  hardships  and  diffi- 
culties tin  mining  is  going  forward.  A  few  dredges  are 
working,  and  hand  and  horse  scraping  and  drag  shovels 
are  being  used.  It  is  more  costly  and  more  difficult  to  get 
supplies  and  machinery  in  here  than  at  Nome  for  they 
must  be  transshipped  at  Nome  to  coast  steamers.  Then, 
when  landed  on  this  far  northern,  bleak  coast,  they  must 
often  be  hauled  by  freight  teams  or  poled  in  boats  to  their 
ultimate  destination.  It  is  costly  to  keep  horses  in  this 
part  of  the  world  and  the  work  of  poling  is  laborious  and 
slow.  Consequently  though  there  is  a  great  need  of  tin 
and  our  country  has  little,  these  valuable  deposits  are  not 
much  worked. 

Comparatively  little  is  being  done  with  the  tin  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fairbanks,  and  nothing  whatever  with  that 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    285 


discovered  near  Circle  City.  These  deposits  are  wait- 
ing for  better  transportation  and  cheaper  fuel  to  be 
developed. 

Marble  is  one  of  the  deposits  of  Alaska  that  is  coming 
to  the  fore,  both  for  quality  and  quantity.  Not  only  is  a 
fine  grade  of  white  marble  found  but  deposits  have  been 
found  that  have  delicate  tintings  of  lavender,  a  faint  yel- 
low, green  and  other  tones.  These  lend  themselves  de- 
lightfully to  unusual  artistic  effects  in  decoration  and  for 
this  reason  the  Alaska  marbles  are  winning  high  recog- 
nition among  builders.  They  are  used  now  liberally  in 
all  the  buildings  on  the  western  coast  from  Seattle  on  the 
north  to  San  Diego  on  the  south,  and  their  fame  is  pene- 
trating eastward  to  the  large  cities  of  the  interior. 

So  far,  the  principal  deposits  are  found  in  the  south- 
eastern section,  chiefly  on  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island. 
Here  several  marble  quarries  have  been  opened,  one  of 
them  being  owned  by  a  Vermont  company  with  very 
extensive  quarries  in  Vermont  and  other  States  and  works 
at  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Cleveland,  Chicago, 
St.  Louis,  Dallas,  San  Francisco,  Tacoma,  Ontario  and 
other  places.  The  marble  mined  in  these  quarries  re- 
sembles the  Carrara  marble,  nothing  superior  to  it  being 
found  in  America. 

Petroleum  is  another  product  of  Alaska,  but  to  just 
what  extent  it  occurs  is  little  known.  All  of  Alaska's  oil 
lands  were  withdrawn  in  1910,  with  the  exception  of  one 
small  tract  on  which  title  had  already  been  secured,  and 
so  of  course  all  work  in  regard  to  this  product  has  been 
stopped.  The  oil  so  far  discovered  is  a  refining  oil  similar 
to  that  of  Pennsylvania  with  a  paraffin  base  and  but  little 
sulphur,  the  type  of  oil  more  and  more  in  demand  as  gas- 
oline is  a  product  of  it.  When  Congress  takes  some  step 
to  throw  these  lands  open  the  oil  industry  of  Alaska  will 


286        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

become  an  important  factor  in  the  business  enterprises  of 
the  Territory. 

The  oil  seepages  at  present  known  are  at  Katalla,  on 
Controller  Bay;  at  Yakataga,  to  the  east  of  Katalla;  on 
Cook  Inlet  and  on  the  Alaska  Peninsula.  All  these  are  on 
the  Pacific  seaboard,  which  makes  their  development  easy. 
Some  seepages  have  been  discovered  on  the  Arctic  coast 
but  little  is  known  of  these. 

The  oil  at  Katalla  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  by 
a  member  of  a  party  on  a  bear  hunt.  Alaskans  had  heard 
stories  from  the  Indians  of  strange  black  pools  in  this 
section  but  had  paid  little  attention  to  them.  This  bear 
hunter,  however,  while  after  his  game  came  near  falling 
into  a  puddle  of  thick,  black  fluid,  the  surface  of  which 
was  partially  dried.  He  took  some  of  it  back  to  camp 
and  tried  it  for  building  fires.  A  year  later  when  in  the 
same  district  he  found  a  little  spring  of  petroleum.  He 
threw  a  match  into  it  and  a  gusher  of  fire  flamed  out  that 
set  the  whole  country  into  a  blaze  and  burned  for  a  week. 

These  Katalla  fields  are  about  twenty-five  miles  long 
and  from  four  to  eight  miles  wide  and  skirt  the  north 
shore  of  Controller  Bay.  The  field  lies  in  part  on  the 
southern  slope  of  a  densely  timbered  highland  whose  sum- 
mits reach  from  twelve  hundred  to  two  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  also  in  part  on  the  flats  adjacent  to  the 
shore  line. 

Katalla  is  a  small  settlement  at  which  freight  can  be 
landed  from  scows  only  during  favorable  weather  con- 
ditions. But  as  this  is  also  the  region  of  the  Bering  River 
coal  fields  and  as  a  railroad  will  undoubtedly  in  the  course 
of  time  be  run  into  them,  it  could  be  made  to  serve  also 
the  oil  fields.  Pipe  lines  could  also  be  run  to  tidewater  as 
there  is  plenty  of  timber  available  for  structural  purposes. 

A  small  tract  had  been  patented  in  the  Katalla  field 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    287 


previous  to  the  withdrawal  of  Alaska  oil  lands  and  this  is 
being  worked  in  a  small  way.  This  is  the  only  oil  pro- 
duction in  Alaska  at  present  (1918).  This  could  be 
worked  to  better  advantage  were  the  field  developed  gen- 
erally and  transportation  and  other  business  facilities 
thereby  improved. 

In  the  Yakataga  field,  some  eighty  miles  east  of  Katalla, 
the  oil  zone  is  about  twenty  miles  long  and  from  a  half 
mile  to  two  miles  inland  from  the  coast.  A  strong  oil 
seepage  has  also  been  found  about  fifteen  miles  to  the 
eastward.  The  Yakataga  seepages  are  mostly  in  a  series 
of  short  valleys  separated  from  the  coast  by  a  low,  wooded 
ridge. 

The  seepages  on  Cook  Inlet  are  on  the  west  shore  about 
parallel  with  Iliamna  Lake  and  are  accessible  from  good 
harbors  both  north  and  south.  South  of  them  on  the 
Alaska  Peninsula  in  about  the  latitude  of  Kodiak  Island 
are  other  seepages  which  were  known  even  in  the  times 
of  the  Russians. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  all  these  oil  fields  have  been 
withdrawn  little  accurate  data  is  available.  But  the  oil 
is  here  —  that  is  assured  —  and,  without  doubt,  in  the 
course  of  time  restrictions  will  be  lifted  and  it  will  be 
developed. 

Chrome  ore,  used  in  the  manufacture  of  steel,  has  re- 
cently been  discovered  and  is  being  mined.  This  is  a  val- 
uable discovery  for  the  Pacific  coast,  because  if  steel  could 
be  made  there  it  would  mean  not  only  a  great  industrial 
development  which  the  coast  needs  but  a  reduction  in  cost 
of  many  important  necessities.  This  ore  is  found  on  the 
Kenai  Peninsula  and  also  in  the  interior  in  the  region 
between  the  Yukon  and  the  Tanana  Rivers.  That  of  the 
interior  is  not  being  mined  on  account  of  the  cost  of  oper- 
ations but  that  on  the  Kenai  Peninsula  is  mostly  on  tide- 


288        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

water  and  can  be  profitably  worked.  The  ore  bodies  here 
range  in  thickness  from  a  few  inches  to  about  twenty 
feet  and  some  of  it  averages  fifty  per  cent  chromic  oxide. 

Cinnabar  has  been  found  in  the  Kuskokwim  country,  a 
bluff  in  which  are  deposits  of  it  extending  along  the  Kus- 
kokwim River  for  quite  a  distance. 

Platinum  has  been  discovered  in  small  quantities  in 
various  places  in  Alaska,  but  as  it  is  a  metal  not  easily 
recognized  by  the  average  prospector,  and  not  one  that 
he  has  been  on  the  watch  for,  there  may  be  more  of  it  in 
Alaska  than  is  supposed.  So  far,  it  has  been  found  in  sev- 
eral localities  in  the  Seward  Peninsula,  in  the  Copper 
River  section,  in  the  Kuskokwim  country,  on  the  Kenai 
Peninsula,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island.  These  dis- 
coveries show  a  distribution  running  northwest  and 
southeast  and  dipping  south  throughout  almost  the  area 
of  Alaska.  As  the  tract  north  of  the  Yukon  has  been 
little  explored  and  chiefly  by  those  who  probably  would 
not  recognize  platinum,  it  may  yet  be  found  there.  At 
present  Russia  is  the  principal  producer  of  platinum,  and 
the  discovery  of  it  in  marketable  cjuantities  in  Alaska 
would  be  of  great  value  to  the  industrial  world.  Its  pres- 
ent high  value,  about  twice  that  of  gold,  has  led  to  a  care- 
ful search  for  it  in  Alaska  and  the  announcement  of 
important  discoveries  may  come  at  any  time.  Late  geo- 
logical maps  of  the  Kuskokwim  country  show  a  belt  of 
rocks  of  the  same  age  geologically  as  those  which  yield 
platinum  in  Russia,  and  as  it  is  in  this  section  of  the  Kus- 
kokwim that  specimens  have  been  found  in  the  sluice 
boxes  of  the  gold  miners  there  may  be  here  valuable 
deposits  awaiting  only  the  eye  of  the  experienced  mineral- 
ogist. 

There  are,  however,  few  minerals  that  are  not  to  be 
f(jund  in  Alaska.    Antimony  is  being  mined,  but  as  it  has 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    289 


to  be  hauled  by  wagon  to  a  small  railroad  which  takes  it 
to  the  nearest  camp,  or  else  by  dog  sled  in  winter,  and 
thence  by  boat  to  the  outside,  its  mining  does  not  go  for- 
ward very  fast. 

Tungsten  has  been  discovered  and  is  being  mined  and 
shipped  out  by  parcel  post.  One  thing  must  be  said  to 
the  credit  of  the  miners  in  Alaska.  They  seldom  let  diffi- 
culties get  the  better  of  them.  By  ingenuity,  resourceful- 
ness, or  sheer  grit,  they  put  their  products  over. 

Sulphur,  lead,  nickel,  cobalt,  silver,  bismuth,  molyb- 
denum, graphite,  barytes,  have  all  been  found  and  are 
being  worked  to  some  extent.  The  deposit  of  barytes  is 
quite  large  and  exceptionally  pure.  It  is  located  on  tide- 
water and  can  be  easily  developed.  Heretofore  the  barytes 
used  on  the  Pacific  coast  has  come  from  the  East  and 
from  abroad,  but  this  deposit  in  Alaska  promises  to  meet 
all  future  needs. 

The  Bureau  of  Mines  at  Fairbanks,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  School  of  Mines  there  in  connection  with  the 
Agricultural  College,  is  of  inestimable  help  to  the  devel- 
opment of  Alaska's  mineral  resources. 

The  Bureau  renders  valuable  assistance  both  to  pro- 
spectors and  those  already  engaged  in  mining.  It  makes 
qualitative  analysis  of  specimens  to  enable  the  prospector 
to  know  promptly  the  kind  of  material  that  may  be  present 
in  any  specimen  he  may  find.  It  collects  data  as  to  the 
mining  and  mineral  possibilities  of  the  Territory.  It  sup- 
plies information  of  the  market  price  for  ores  and  min- 
erals. It  has  available  for  study  a  collection  of  minerals 
of  economic  importance  and  it  maintains  a  reading-room 
and  a  library  of  mining  books  and  periodicals. 

Prospectors  can  send  rock  specimens  from  any  part  of 
the  Territory  to  the  Bureau  and  it  will  make  tests  to  de- 
termine the  kind  of  metal  or  minerals  in  them.    No  charge 


290        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


is  made  for  this  service  but  it  is  desired  that  specimens 
brought  or  sent  be  accompanied  by  as  much  information 
as  possible  regarding  the  locahty  where  found,  the  near- 
ness to  transportation,  and  whether  the  specimen  is  float 
or  from  a  prospect  hole  or  claim.  In  the  latter  case,  the 
approximate  amount  or  extent  of  mining  operations  such 
as  shafts,  tunnels  or  raises  should  be  furnished,  together 
with  the  size  of  the  vein,  the  distance  the  ledge  can  be 
traced,  an  estimate  of  the  approximate  quantity  of  ore  in 
sight  and  any  other  useful  information  of  a  general  char- 
acter. 

When  possible,  prospects  or  mines  from  which  speci- 
mens have  been  analyzed  are  examined  by  members  of  the 
Bureau  when  on  their  field  trips,  and  by  having  this  in- 
formation available  for  operators  or  companies  interested 
in  exploratory  work  or  searching  for  new  properties,  it 
makes  it  possible  for  the  man  with  a  small  mine  or  pros- 
pect and  the  man  or  company  with  capital  to  come  to- 
jrether.  It  is  well  known  that  the  cost  of  sending  an 
engineer  from  the  States  is  so  great  as  not  to  warrant  it 
except  for  well-developed  and  promising  prospects,  but 
it  is  hoped  that  this  work  of  the  Bureau  will,  to  a  certain 
extent,  take  the  place  of  a  preliminary  examination  and 
furnish  data  in  many  cases  to  justify  the  trip  of  an  engi- 
neer where  it  might  not  otherwise  be  thought  of. 

At  the  office  of  the  Bureau  in  Fairbanks  is  a  collection 
of  more  than  a  hundred  minerals  known  to  be  or  likely  to 
be  found  in  Alaska.  This  offers  the  prospector  an  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  the  appearance  of  some  of  the  more  un- 
common minerals  so  that  he  may  be  on  the  lookout  for 
them  when  in  the  field.  The  library  contains  a  complete 
file  of  the  bulletins  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines 
to  date,  a  number  of  publications  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  many  books  on  mining,  ore  dressing 


Rich  Mineral  Resources  of  the  Territory    291 

and  kindred  subjects,  and  useful  information  from  the 
catalogues  issued  by  the  manufacturers  of  mining  machin- 
ery. In  the  metallurgical  laboratory  is  a  full  equipment 
of  the  most  modern  machinery  for  making  milling  tests 
of  practically  every  kind  of  mineral  likely  to  be  found  in 
Alaska. 

The  Bureau  cooperates  with  any  miner  who  is  erecting 
a  new  mill  or  making  changes  in  his  present  one,  with  a 
view  to  helping  him  increase  its  efficiency,  and  will  also 
make  a  test  run  of  his  ore.  No  charge  is  made  for  this 
work. 

The  Bureau  also  makes  special  investigations  looking 
toward  the  saving  of  by-products  in  placer  work,  partic- 
ularly the  fine  gold  and  the  values  contained  in  the  con- 
centrate sands  in  the  shape  of  tin,  tungsten  and  platinum. 
Side  by  side  with  these  studies  are  investigations  in  the 
cost  of  placer  mining,  the  utilization  of  various  methods 
of  handling  gravel,  the  study  of  methods  and  cost  of 
thawing  ground. 

The  members  of  the  Bureau  also  visit  various  mining 
camps  not  only  in  the  vicinity  of  Fairbanks  but  through- 
out the  entire  Territory  to  familiarize  themselves  at  first 
hand  with  mining  conditions  and  problems  in  Alaska. 
The  work  of  the  Bureau  is  for  the  whole  Territory,  Fair- 
banks being  chosen  as  headquarters  merely  because  of  its 
central  location  and  of  its  nearness  to  the  railroad. 

The  establishment  of  the  present  station  is  due  largely 
to  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Joseph  Holmes,  a  man  of  construc- 
tive imagination  who  was  enthusiastic  over  the  mineral 
wealth  of  Alaska  and  recommended  a  mining  and  metal- 
lurgical laboratory  for  the  assistance  of  the  prospectors 
and  miners  of  the  Territory.  Dr.  Holmes  worked  ener- 
getically upon  the  plans  for  the  Bureau  until  his  death, 
which  was  caused  by  exposure  on  a  reconnaissance  trip. 


292        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


His  dreams  and  sacrifice  have  given  the  spirit  to  the  Bu- 
reau and  it  is  carried  on  with  the  same  eager  desire  to 
be  of  help  to  miners  and  of  assistance  in  developing  the 
mineral  resources  of  the  country. 

The  School  of  Mines,  which  is  conducted  in  connection 
with  the  Agricultural  College,  is  carried  on  along  the  lines 
of  other  schools  of  this  character,  except,  of  course,  that 
special  attention  is  given  to  Alaska's  mineral  wealth  and 
mining  problems. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Alaska's  fishing  industries 

Salmon  and  the  various  methods  of  marketing  it.  Halibut 
AND  COD.  Herring  in  countless  numbers.  Other  commer- 
cial  FISH  AND  BY-PRODUCTS.      FiSH  FOR  THE  SPORTSMAN. 

The  fisheries  of  Alaska  run  the  minerals  a  close  sec- 
ond in  value,  if,  indeed,  they  are  not  already  outstripping 
them.  The  salmon  pack  alone  for  the  one  year  1918  was 
valued  at  close  to  $50,000,000.  Yet  this  is  but  one  of 
Alaska's  fishing  industries,  and  these  industries  at  pres- 
ent, great  as  this  one  alone  shows  them  to  be,  are  scarcely 
started.  Only  twenty  edible  fish  are  being  used  commer- 
cially out  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  known  varieties 
that  swarm  Alaskan  waters.  With  these  twenty  making 
the  showing  they  do,  what  the  fisheries  of  Alaska  will 
produce  when  developed  to  their  utmost  no  one  can 
conjecture. 

The  fish  of  Alaska  have  excited  amazement  from  the 
earliest  times.  The  first  navigators  of  these  waters, 
the  Russian,  Spanish  and  French,  told  in  the  narratives 
of  their  explorations  of  the  incredible  number  of  fish 
that  swarmed  the  coastal  shores  and  rivers.  But  as  furs 
were  the  lure  of  these  early  explorers  little  attention  was 
paid  to  the  fish.  Indeed,  when  it  is  considered  that  only 
twenty  out  of  a  choice  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
are  being  used,  and  of  these  effort  is  concentrated  chiefly 
on  one,  the  salmon,  one  might  say  that  even  to-day,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  after  these  early  explorers  noted 
Alaska's  fish,  little  attention  is  being  paid  to  them.     It 

293 


294        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

may  have  been  the  reports  of  the  men  first  in  these  waters 
however  that  caused  Secretary  Seward  when  drawing 
up  the  treaty  for  the  purchase  of  Alaska  to  make  the  wise 
provision,  "  The  waters  that  surround  the  land  are  in- 
cluded in  the  transfer." 

A  great  continental  shelf  extends  along  the  coast  of 
Alaska  that  makes  a  feeding  ground  for  fish  unequalled 
in  the  world.  It  is  estimated  that  there  are  two  thousand 
square  miles  of  cod  banks  that  one  might  say  are  almost 
untouched  as  compared  with  the  fishing  on  other  known 
cod  banks,  and,  too,  these  are  in  a  milder,  pleasanter 
climate  for  fishing  and  there  is  less  hazard  from  storms 
and  icebergs  than  on  the  cod  banks  of  the  Atlantic. 

Swarms  of  salmon  leaping  streams  in  such  quantities 
that  they  crowd  each  other  out  on  the  shores  are  common 
stories.  The  same  is  true  of  the  herring  and  the  oolichan 
or  candlefish.  The  herring  has  been  reported  in  some 
places  so  thick  for  fifteen  miles  that  windrows  of  them 
several  feet  high  were  piled  on  the  beach  dead.  Of  the 
candlefish,  William  Dall,  director  of  the  scientific  corps 
of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Expedition,  says, 
"  They  were  so  abundant  as  to  almost  entirely  fill  the 
river.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  wade  without  tread- 
ing upon  them  and  they  could  be  dipped  up  in  large  quan- 
tities with  dip  nets  or  even  baskets." 

At  present  the  salmon  ranks  first  among  Alaska's  fish, 
and  salmon  canning  is  the  chief  fish  industry.  "  The 
Pacific  salmon,"  says  Dr.  Hugh  Smith  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Fisheries,  "  are  the  most  valuable  fish 
not  only  in  the  United  States  but  also  of  the  entire  west- 
ern hemisphere.  With  the  single  exception  of  sea  her- 
ring, the  Pacific  salmon  are  commercially  the  leading 
fishes  of  the  world.  The  salmon  have,  in  fact,  been 
.Alaska's  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  world's  needs, 


Alaska's  Fishing  Industries  295 


exceeding  in  abundance  and  importance  those  of  any 
other  region." 

There  are  five  species  of  sahnon  in  the  Alaskan  waters, 
the  King,  valuable  because  of  its  size,  for  it  is  often  four 
feet  long,  and  attains  a  weight  of  thirty  pounds  and 
more;  the  red  or  sockeye,  liked  because  of  its  color;  the 
humpback  or  pink,  a  trifle  paler  in  color  than  the  red; 
the  silver,  which  is  smaller  than  the  other  varieties,  and 
the  dog  or  chum  salmon.  Unfortunately,  a  prejudice 
exists  against  the  dog  salmon,  because  the  natives  feed 
it  to  their  dogs  and  it  is  thought  by  many  not  to  be  an 
edible  fish.  Its  color,  too,  is  against  it.  But  it  is  a 
palatable  food  fish,  and  now  that  its  name  commercially 
has  been  changed  to  grayfish,  the  prejudice  may  die 
away. 

In  the  matter  of  age  the  salmon  canning  industry  is 
almost  a  twin  to  gold  mining,  for  the  first  salmon  cannery 
was  started  in  1878  and  gold  mining  at  Juneau  began 
in  1880. 

Salmon  are  caught  in  traps,  by  trolling,  by  seines,  by 
gill  nets  and  a  few  by  lines  and  dip  nets.  They  are 
brought  to  the  canneries  by  the  fishermen  usually  in  gas 
launches,  for  these  little  boats  flit  swiftly  here  and  there 
over  Alaskan  waters  in  the  fishing  season  like  water 
spiders.  From  the  boats  the  fish  are  tossed  into  a  con- 
veyor that  carries  them  into  the  cannery.  These  convey- 
ors are  of  various  kinds,  but  frequently  they  are  a  long 
trough  lined  with  shining  tin  and  filled  with  sparkling 
water  along  which  the  fish  float  in  silvery  beauty  until 
they  reach  a  chute  down  which  they  slide  to  mammoth 
bins.  These  great  bins  filled  with  fish,  often  thousands 
at  a  time,  are  impressive  sights. 

From  these  bins  the  fish  are  fed  into  the  Iron  Chink, 
an  almost  human  piece  of  machinery  that  cuts  off  the 


296        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

head,  opens  and  cleans  the  fish  and  then  sends  it  on  to  a 
table  where  the  final  cleaning  is  done. 

This  work  is  by  hand,  Chinamen  or  Japs,  sometimes 
American  women,  performing  it.  The  workers  wear 
gloves,  and,  if  possible,  rubber  or  waterproof  coats  or 
aprons,  for  this  is  the  least  pleasant  part  of  the  canning 
work.  The  labor  must  be  done  in  running  water,  and  as 
this  is  usually  mountain  water  it  is  ice  cold.  A  quick 
keen  glance  shows  what  needs  to  be  removed,  a  few 
movements  of  a  sharp  knife,  a  rinsing  in  the  clean  water, 
and  the  fish  again  goes  to  a  carrier  that  moves  it  swiftly 
along  to  a  bin  where  a  boy  puts  it  into  a  hopper  that 
feeds  it  to  a  cutting  machine. 

This  machine  cuts  the  fish  into  pieces  of  the  right  size 
for  the  cans  and  then  these  pieces  go  on  to  a  machine 
that  presses  them  into  the  cans.  The  whole  process  is 
deft,  efficient  machine  work.  The  pieces  of  fish  ready 
to  be  packed  move  on  a  carrier  in  a  long  line,  the  empty 
cans  move  side  by  side  with  them  on  another  carrier. 
A  piston  rams  the  fish  into  an  empty  can,  it  moves  on, 
the  next  can  takes  its  place,  and  thus  the  filling  goes  on 
with  the  automatic  precision  and  regularity  of  clockwork. 
A  one-pound  can  is  filled  every  second. 

The  filled  cans  are  picked  up  by  an  operator  and  set 
on  a  carrier  and  away  they  speed  to  the  steam  box. 
Any  can  not  full  is  set  ofif  en  route  by  an  inspector,  filled 
on  the  spot  by  a  worker  with  fish  and  knife  and  set  back 
again. 

The  first  cooking  in  this  steam  sterilizing  flume  is  for 
fifteen  minutes.  After  this  the  top  is  clamped  on  by 
machinery,  another  swift,  automatic  process,  and  then 
the  cans  are  placed  on  trucks  and  wheeled  to  big  iron 
retorts  where  they  are  cooked  an  hour  and  twenty  min- 
utes.    After  this  comes  the  testing  to  see  that  each  can 


Alaska's  Fishing  Industries  297 

is  correct  in  weight  and  air  tight,  then  the  shellacking 
to  prevent  the  cans  from  rusting,  and  the  labelling  and 
boxing.  In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  or  months,  these 
cans,  with  their  legend  of  place  and  kind  and  quality, 
stand  on  grocery  shelves  ready  to  serve  the  public  with 
delicious,  nourishing  food. 

Aside  from  their  machinery,  the  canneries  are  not  ex- 
pensive establishments.  They  are  usually  long,  one- 
story  buildings  quickly  and  crudely  constructed  on  the 
shore  of  some  inlet  or  cove  or  near  the  wharf  of  some 
town.  When  not  in  a  town  the  woods  enclose  them,  the 
mountains  rise  steeply  behind,  and  wild  flowers  and 
waterfalls  add  to  the  beauty  of  the  environment.  Gulls 
perch  in  long  white  rows  on  the  roofs  of  the  buildings 
or  swoop  down  in  graceful  curves  to  the  waters  for  the 
food  that  is  being  continually  washed  into  it  from  the 
canneries  for  them.  Small  frame  buildings  or  tents  pro- 
vide accommodations  for  the  workers,  though  there  is 
not  a  large  working  force  and  this  is  mostly  Japs  or 
Chinese.  The  work  is  done  by  machinery  with  a  few 
keen-eyed  deft  watchers  and  manipulators  of  the  ma- 
chines and  a  small  force  to  handle  the  labelling  and  pack- 
ing, and  a  few  clerical  workers.  Sometimes  the  labelling 
is  done  elsewhere. 

Salmon  are  also  mild  cured,  pickled,  dried  and  smoked, 
frozen  and  shipped  fresh. 

In  mild  curing  the  fish  are  split  down  the  middle,  the 
head,  tail  and  all  fins  except  the  pectorals  removed,  and 
the  backbone  cut  out.  The  fish  is  then  cut  in  halves, 
each  of  which  is  scored  on  the  outside  eight  or  nine  times 
with  the  knife.  They  are  then  thrown  into  a  cleaning 
vat,  and  here  the  inner  side  of  each  section  is  carefully 
scraped  clear  of  blood  and  membrane  with  a  knife,  while 
the  outside  is  thoroughly  cleaned  with  a  scrubbing  brush. 


298        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


The  sections  are  then  laid  carefully  inner  side  up  in 
another  vat  partly  filled  with  clear,  cold  running  water 
or  into  a  tierce  partly  filled  with  fresh  water  and  cracked 
ice  in  which  they  remain  for  an  hour.  Formerly  the 
fish  were  put  into  brine,  but  it  has  been  found  that  ice 
water  answers  the  purpose  much  better.  After  being 
thoroughly  cooled,  the  sections  are  salted  down  in  the 
tierces,  each  one  being  laid  with  its  tail  toward  the 
centre.  The  fish  are  but  lightly  salted,  and,  owing  to 
this  fact,  must  be  kept  in  cold  storage  until  used. 

The  principal  consumers  of  the  mild  cured  salmon  are 
those  who  smoke  salmon,  who  take  them  from  the  tierce, 
wash  them  for  a  few  moments  and  then  have  practically 
a  fresh  fish  to  smoke,  and  not,  as  in  the  days  when  hard 
pickled  salmon  were  used,  one  that  had  lost  much  of  its 
oil  and  flavor  through  the  excessive  amount  of  salt 
needed  to  preserve  it. 

The  pickling  of  salmon  is  not  carried  on  so  extensively 
as  formerly  because  of  the  increasing  popularity  of  the 
mild  cured  fish,  but  it  is.  nevertheless,  one  of  the  perma- 
nent salmon  industries  of  Alaska.  A  few  of  the  pic- 
kling establishments  also  pack  "bellies."  This  product 
is  merely  the  bellies  of  the  fish,  which  is  the  fattest  por- 
tion, and  as  most  of  the  packers  threw  away  the  rest  of 
the  fish  this  method  has  come  under  the  ban  of  the  law. 
As  a  result,  bellies  are  only  packed  now  when  some 
economic  use  is  made  of  the  remainder.  At  some  places 
where  these  belHes  are  used  the  backs  are  dried  in  the 
sun  and  used  for  fox  food. 

The  smoking  of  salmon  is  virtually  a  continuation  of 
the  pickling,  as  the  fish  must  be  pickled  before  they  can 
l)e  smoked.  A  variation  of  the  smoking  process  is  known 
as  kippering. 

A  smoked  product  known  as  Beleke  is  put  up  at  Ko- 


Alaska's  Fishing  Industries  299 

diak.  The  smoking  must  be  done  very  slowly,  two  weeks 
being  taken  for  it  and  only  a  small  fire  being  used.  On 
dry  days  the  smoking  house  is  partially  opened  and  the 
wind  allowed  to  blow  through.  There  is  a  good  demand 
for  Beleke  locally,  but  little  effort  has  been  made  to 
extend  the  sale  outside  of  Alaska. 

The  shipping  of  frozen  salmon  and  of  fresh  salmon  in 
crushed  ice  is  also  a  profitable  part  of  the  salmon  in- 
dustry. 

Salmon  hatcheries  are  maintained  both  by  the  govern- 
ment and  by  individual  canneries  as  it  is  recognized  that 
the  present  enormous  catch  of  salmon  would  soon  exter- 
minate them  unless  the  stock  is  renewed.  Two  govern- 
ment stations  and  five  private  hatcheries  are  maintained. 
The  annual  capacity  of  these  hatcheries  is  approximately 
350,000,000  red  salmon  eggs,  of  which  the  two  govern- 
ment stations  handle  150,000,000.  The  private  hatch- 
eries are  inspected  from  time  to  time  by  representatives 
of  the  government. 

The  work  is  under  constant  study  and  experimentation 
with  the  idea  of  improvement.  At  one  station  efforts  are 
being  made  to  rear  the  salmon  to  fingerling  size  before 
planting.  The  young  fish  are  fed  on  raw  salt  salmon 
ground  up  after  being  freshened.  The  results  obtained 
from  the  use  of  this  food  are  better  than  when  cooked 
food  is  given.  It  is  also  noted  that  the  young  fish  thrive 
better  in  the  hatching  troughs  than  in  the  rearing  ponds. 
At  another  station  the  adoption  of  the  incision  method 
for  taking  red  salmon  eggs  has  been  tried  and  found  to 
be  an  improvement. 

The  Fish  and  Gun  Club  of  Juneau  also  are  making 
efforts  along  lines  of  their  own  in  regard  to  salmon 
propagation.  They  believe  that  the  closer  the  natural 
course  is  followed  the  better.     Aiding  nature  seems  to 


300        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


them  preferable  to  radical  departure  from  such  methods, 
and  they  are  experimenting  with  planting  eggs  in  the 
sand  or  gravel  to  conform  with  natural  hatching.  They 
are  experimenting  in  several  other  fields,  one  of  which  is 
to  see  if  fish  cannot  be  hatched  from  eggs  now  wasted 
under  the  Iron  Chink.  So  far  they  have  effected  a  saving 
of  five  per  cent  which,  if  the  cost  of  doing  this  is  not  too 
great,  is  worth  while,  as  otherwise  these  eggs  are  abso- 
lutely wasted  at  present. 

Halibut  ranks  next  to  salmon  in  the  fishing  industry 
of  Alaska.  This  fine,  big,  white-meated  fish  is  growing 
more  and  more  in  favor  and  Alaska  waters  teem  with  it. 
So  numerous  are  they  that  at  first  they  were  fished  for 
simply  from  wharves.  Becoming  scarce  here  they  were 
found  in  quantity  in  the  Inland  Passage  from  Ketchikan 
to  Skagway.  But  the  demand  increasing,  the  fishermen 
finally  went  to  the  halibut  banks,  which  extend  as  far  west 
as  Kodiak.  Twenty  million  pounds  a  year  is  a  conser- 
vative estimate  of  the  catch.  The  banks  of  the  Atlantic 
produce  less  than  five  million.  The  Alaska  halibut  are 
shipped  now  to  many  parts  of  the  United  States.  For 
packing  this  fish  the  Alaska  halibut  fishermen  have  the 
ice  ready  at  hand  in  the  bergs  that  break  off  from  the 
glaciers  in  many  of  the  regions  where  the  fish  is  to  be 
found. 

Cod  fishing  in  Alaska  is  climbing  steadily  into  impor- 
tance as  a  business.  The  banks  lie  off  the  Aleutian 
Islands  and  the  southern  and  northern  shores  of  the 
Alaska  Peninsula.  On  these  southern  shores  the  cod 
fishing  of  the  Pacific  is  much  pleasanter  than  the  same 
occupation  in  the  Atlantic,  for  the  climatic  conditions 
are  more  favorable.  Several  new  industries  are  spring- 
ing up  in  connection  with  the  cod  fishing,  such  as  the 
packing  of  flake  codfish  and  a  method  of  trcatinfj:  and 


Alaska's  Fishing  Industries  301 


packing  similar  to  the  canning  of  salmon.  Both  of  these 
have  proved  successful.  In  the  main,  however,  the  fish 
are  merely  salted  and  shipped  to  the  States  for  further 
treatment. 

Herring  fishing  as  an  industry  may  be  said  to  have 
scarcely  started.  Herring  swarm  Alaskan  waters  till 
they  suffocate  and  are  found  on  the  shores  dead  from 
this  cause.  They  are  so  thick  that  the  Indians  catch 
them  by  means  of  nails  driven  through  laths  with  which 
they  beat  the  water  and  rake  them  into  their  boats  as 
fast  as  they  can  lift  the  stick.  The  Alaska  herring,  too, 
is  unusually  fat.  No  lard  or  grease  of  any  kind  is  needed 
in  its  cooking.  Yet  they  are  used  for  little  but  bait  for 
halibut  fishing  and  for  oils  and  fertilizer. 

The  herring  fisheries  of  Scotland  and  Norway  yield 
these  countries  millions  of  dollars  annually.  A  recent 
report  from  an  American  consul  in  Norway  shows  that 
in  four  seasons  the  catch  had  an  average  annual  value 
of  $6,600,000.  The  herring  resources  of  Alaska  are 
superior  to  those  of  Norway,  yet  the  average  annual 
value  of  Alaska's  catch  is  but  $252,000.  The  imports  of 
cured  herring  into  the  United  States  are  heavy,  yet  fish 
the  equal,  if  not  of  a  better  quality,  swarm  Alaskan 
waters,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  could  be  put  on 
the  market  for  less  than  the  imported  variety. 

A  few  are  awaking  to  the  possibilities  of  this  industry. 
Norwegian  capitalists  have  already  established  a  big 
plant  in  one  section  and  several  other  firms  have  started 
the  Scotch  method  of  curing  herring,  and  their  products 
are  finding  a  ready  market  and  commanding  higher  prices 
than  other  herring.  By  the  Scotch  method  the  fish  are 
more  carefully  selected  and  more  thoroughly  cleaned. 
They  are  packed  more  carefully,  are  not  repacked,  and 
they  have  very  little  pickle  on  them. 


302        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Kippered  herring  as  a  canned  article  is  also  one  of  the 
new  products  of  the  Alaska  fisheries.  The  herring  when 
delivered  at  the  cannery  are  spread  on  the  floor  in  a  thin 
layer  and  sprinkled  with  salt,  where  they  remain  until 
such  time  as  the  cannery  workers  are  ready  to  clean  them. 
The  fish  are  then  placed  on  tables  around  which  are  gath- 
ered women  who  dress  them.  After  being  cleaned,  they 
are  immersed  for  a  short  time  in  a  salt  solution.  The 
herring  are  then  taken  to  the  smoking-room  and  hung 
by  the  tails  on  sticks  studded  on  both  sides  with  rows  of 
sharpened  nails.  These  sticks  wdien  filled  with  fish  are 
placed  side  by  side  and  tier  above  tier  in  the  smoke  house 
where  they  are  exposed  to  alderwood  smoke  over  night. 
During  this  process  all  surplus  moisture  drains  from  the 
body  cavity  and  surface  of  the  fish  and  the  natural  oil 
commences  to  appear.  While  in  this  condition  they  are 
packed  by  hand  in  cans.  The  cans  are  then  sealed  and 
cooked  for  about  two  hours  in  boiling  water  heated  by 
steam. 

Another  fish  that  will  come  to  its  own  in  time,  though 
as  yet  it  is  little  known,  is  the  oolichan,  eulachon  or  ulikon 
as  it  is  variously  spelled,  or  the  candlefish  as  it  is  pop- 
ularly called.  It  is  one  of  the  most  delicious  small  fish 
that  swim  the  sea.  It  is  a  silver  fish  resembling  a 
smelt,  and  is  tender  and  fat.  In  fact,  it  is  one  of  the 
fattest  of  all  known  fish.  The  amount  of  fat  in  it  is  so 
great  that  it  cannot  be  kept  in  alcohol  for  scientific  pur- 
poses. It  is  the  oil  in  it  that  has  made  it  such  a  popular 
fish  with  the  Indians.  They  made  quite  a  ceremony  of 
catching  it  in  the  olden  times.  The  chief  fishing  grounds 
then  for  these  fish  were  on  the  Nasse  River  in  British 
O^lumbia,  and  many  tribes  came  hither  for  the  fishing. 
The  first  fish  caught  was  addressed  as  Chief  and  certain 
ceremonies  were  gone  through  in  his  honor.     Then  the 


Alaska's  Fishing  Industries  303 

regular  fishing  began.  The  fish  were  caught  in  a  sort 
of  wicker  basket.  The  oil  was  extracted  and  used  for 
food  somewhat  as  we  use  butter.  The  fish,  when  dried, 
were  also  used  for  lighting  purposes.  Sometimes  a  wick 
was  stuck  in,  sometimes  the  fish  was  merely  fastened  in 
a  standing  position  and  lighted.  So  full  of  oil  is  it  that 
it  burns  with  a  steady  light  and  serves  the  purpose  of  a 
lamp  or  candle. 

These  fish  crowd  the  waters  as  thickly  as  do  the  her- 
ring. "  The  water  when  filled  with  them  looks  as  if  it 
were  boiling,"  says  one  traveller  who  has  seen  them.  In 
an  hour  or  so  a  woman  living  near  Skagway  tossed  with 
her  hands  out  of  a  small  stream  on  her  place  enough  to 
fill  a  large  barrel. 

At  present  they  are  not  used  commercially,  except  in 
a  purely  local  way  by  restaurants  and  hotels  and  by  some 
of  the  steamers  on  the  Alaska  run.  But  the  person  who 
puts  these  fish  on  the  market  either  fresh,  smoked  or 
tinned  will  not  only  reap  a  rich  harvest  but  will  have 
blessings  called  down  upon  him  by  all  fish  lovers. 

The  Atka  mackerel  is  another  fish  not  yet  known 
commercially.  It  swarms  through  the  passes  of  the 
Aleutian  Islands,  where  the  natives  go  out  in  boats  and 
fish  for  it  with  a  long  pole  on  which  is  a  hook.  One 
native  anchors  the  boat  by  holding  on  to  pieces  of  kelp 
and  the  other  catches  the  fish.  So  numerous  are  they 
that  a  boat  load  can  be  secured  even  in  this  primitive  way 
in  a  few  hours. 

Whaling  is  now  done  almost  altogether  from  shore 
stations  by  means  of  swift  vessels  driven  by  powerful 
engines.  The  killing  is  done  by  guns  mounted  on  the 
bow.  Compared  with  this  industry  in  the  early  days, 
however,  the  returns  to-day  are  small.  The  whalers  of 
New  England  were  the  great  hunters.     They  came  in  the 


304        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

early  '40's  and  nearly  exterminated  this  giant  cetacean 
from  the  waters  round  about  the  Aleutian  Islands.  Then 
they  penetrated  the  Arctic.  As  many  as  six  hundred 
whaling  vessels  have  been  in  these  northern  waters  at 
one  time.  In  these  early  days  the  whale  was  killed  with 
the  harpoon  and  the  capture  of  one  was  exciting  sport. 
The  Aleuts  hunted  them  in  their  skin  boats  and  killed 
them  with  ivory-headed  spears,  which  proves  the  skill 
of  these  natives  both  as  boatmen  and  spearmen. 

Whale  oil  is  always  in  demand  commercially,  the  skin 
is  now  being  used,  and  glue  and  fertilizer  are  among  the 
by-products,  so  that  whaling  is  by  no  means  an  unprof- 
itable industry  even  though  it  is  not  so  extensively  car- 
ried on  as  formerly. 

During  the  war  the  beluga  or  white  whale,  as  it  is 
called,  was  brought  forward  as  a  source  of  meat  supply. 
Those  who  tried  it  said  it  was  tender,  nutritious,  without 
fishy  flavor  and  had  very  little  waste.  It  needs  to  be 
camouflaged  with  a  more  attractive  name,  for  whale 
steaks  do  not  sound  appetizing.  But,  despite  this 
handicap,  it  may  in  time  become  one  of  our  sources  of 
food  supply.  An  experienced  sea  captain  of  Nome  who 
knows  this  fish  well  says  of  it,  "  Each  fish  contains  a 
thousand  pounds  of  meat,  a  barrel  and  a  half  of  oil,  and 
has  a  hide  convertible  into  the  finest  leather  in  the  world. 
It  lives  upon  smaller  fish  and  abounds  in  the  waters  off 
Alaska.  Although  the  beluga  is  from  twelve  to  sixteen 
feet  in  length,  it  can  be  caught  in  nets.  It  is  easily 
salted  or  canned." 

The  walrus  is  valuable  for  its  ivory  tusks,  its  hide,  and 
it,  too,  has  been  suggested  as  a  source  of  meat  supply. 
It  abounds  in  northern  Alaskan  waters  and  the  Eskimos 
have  always  utilized  it. 

Other  fishing  industries  are  in  their  initial  stages  of 


Alaska's  Fishing  Industries  305 


development.  An  enormous  amount  of  shellfish  is  to  be 
found  along  the  Alaskan  coast,  and  the  cannhig  of  clams, 
shrimps  and  crab  meat  is  starting.  The  clams  in  the 
vicinity  of  Cordova  are  unsurpassed  for  quality  and  beds 
covering  an  area  of  approximately  thirty  square  miles 
are  to  be  found  in  this  region.  Canneries  have  started 
here  and  this  promises  to  become  one  of  Alaska's  suc- 
cessful industries. 

The  clams  are  removed  from  the  shells  by  immersing 
them  in  boiling  water  either  in  vats  especially  designed  to 
receive  the  wire  baskets  in  which  the  clams  are  placed  or 
by  passing  the  clams  through  the  water  on  an  endless 
belt.  After  remaining  in  the  water  several  minutes  the 
clams  are  thrown  on  a  table  and  the  shells  fall  away  from 
the  meat.  The  clams  are  then  passed  on  to  workers  who 
open  the  stomachs  and  necks,  remove  the  sand  and  sed- 
iment therefrom  and  sever  the  black  part  of  the  neck. 
The  cleansing  process  is  continued  by  placing  the  meat 
in  a  cylindrical  perforated  washing  machine.  Any  sedi- 
ment that  may  have  remained  after  the  hand  operations 
were  completed  is  thus  removed.  The  clams  are  now 
ready  to  be  canned  and  are  taken  directly  to  the  filling 
tables  if  whole  clams  are  to  be  packed,  or  to  the  grinder 
if  the  clams  are  to  be  minced.  The  cans  are  filled  by 
hand  with  both  meat  and  juice,  after  which  they  pass 
through  the  topping  and  sealing  machines.  The  process 
is  completed  by  cooking  in  retorts. 

Crabs  of  excellent  quality  are  found  in  many  places, 
but  so  far  have  been  used  almost  wholly  to  supply  local 
demands.  Some  shipments  of  crabs  have  been  made  to 
Seattle,  and,  no  doubt,  before  long  this  industry  will  be 
developed  extensively. 

Extensive  deposits  of  mussels  are  to  be  found  in  the 
waters  of  Alaska.      Mussels  are  used  as  extensively  in 


306        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Europe  as  oysters  are  in  this  country  and  when  an  Amer- 
ican trade  develops  in  mussels  Alaska  will  afford  a  prof- 
itable field  for  this  industry. 

The  shrimp  business  is  also  beginning.  Certain  waters 
in  the  southeastern  section  are  known  to  yield  shrimp  of 
excellent  quality  and  large  size  and  the  utilization  of  these 
shrimp  in  various  ways  has  started. 

Mud  sharks,  which  are  found  in  the  waters  between 
Juneau  and  Petersburg,  are  being  caught  for  their  skins, 
which  are  utilized  commercially,  and  for  the  oil  to  be 
obtained  from  the  liver. 

Little  attention  has  been  given  to  the  utilization  of 
fish  eggs,  though  they  abound.  The  Indians  have  long 
made  use  of  this  abundant  source  of  food  and  dry  con- 
siderable quantities  of  roe,  the  product  being  stored  for 
winter  use,  when  it  Is  pounded  between  two  stones,  im- 
mersed in  water,  and  beaten  with  spoons  into  a  creamy 
consistency.  Or  it  is  boiled  with  sorrel  and  dififerent 
dried  berries  and  made  into  cakes. 

Plants  have  been  established  at  various  places  for  the 
making  of  fertilizers  and  feed  for  chickens  and  stock 
from  some  of  the  waste  of  the  various  fishing  industries, 
especially  from  the  canneries.  All  these  are  minor  in- 
dustries however,  though  they  hold  promise  of  develop- 
ment, for  the  resources  upon  which  they  are  built  are 
almost  unlimited.  They  simply  have  not  received  atten- 
tion because  it  has  been  focussed  upon  Alaska's  great 
fishing  industries,  salmon,  halibut  and  cod. 

Anglers  find  sport  that  delights  them  in  Alaska's 
streams.  Trout  in  variety  are  to  be  found  in  unlimited 
quantity.  The  kinds  include  the  Rainbow,  the  Dolly 
Varden,  the  Cut  Throat,  the  Lake,  in  fact  almost  every 
known  kind.  It  is  said  that  in  the  Mt.  McKinley  country 
trout  weighing  forty  pounds  arc  caught  and  it  is  usually 


Alaska's  Fishing  Industries  307 

the  big  fish  that  get  away.  However,  the  fish  of  the 
McKinley  region  may  be  trying  to  Hve  up  to  their  neigh- 
borhood. In  the  Norton  Sound  region  a  cannery  has 
been  started  for  trout. 

Pickerel  and  grayhng  are  plentiful,  and  in  the  sea 
waters  black  sea  bass  and  flounders.  In  the  Kobuk 
region,  to  the  north  of  Norton  Sound,  the  shee,  one  of 
the  finest  fish  in  the  world,  is  caught.  It  weighs  from 
ten  to  eighty-five  pounds  and  is  caught  in  winter  with  a 
hook  through  the  ice  and  in  summer  in  nets.  Its  meat  is 
as  white  as  that  of  the  halibut  and  very  fat  and  has  a 
delicious  flavor.  Catfish  and  whitefish  also  abound  in 
this  region.  Another  fish  of  these  Arctic  stretches  is 
found  in  the  bogs  and  ponds  of  the  tundra.  It  is  some- 
what akin  to  the  frog  in  its  habits  and  freezes  up  in  the 
winter.  It  is  found  in  the  moss,  and  stories  are  told 
by  prospectors  and  miners  that  by  thawing  the  moss  the 
fish  come  to  life  and  thus  delicious  fresh  fish  is  secured 
by  what  might  be  called  indoor  fishing. 

But  even  with  allowances  for  the  fisherman's  imagina- 
tion, the  fish  story  of  Alaska  is  one  not  to  be  matched  for 
value  and  abundance  elsewhere  in  the  same  area.  And 
when  the  fishing  industries  of  these  waters  reach  their 
maximum  development  the  tale  will  truly  be  one  to 
astound  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

FURS   IN    RICHNESS   AND   VARIETY 

Furs,  Alaska's  first  lure.  The  sea  otter  earliest  sought. 
The  fur  seals.  Other  valuable  skins.  Fox  and  other 
fur  farming. 

It  was  the  rich,  beautiful  furs  of  this  great  north 
country  that  first  attracted  the  covetous  eyes  of  the  world 
to  it.  The  fish  were  noted  but  passed  over.  The  min- 
erals were  practically  unknown.  But  the  treasures  of 
furs  that  were  brought  back  by  the  first  comers  soon 
roused  world-wide  attention  and  trappers  and  traders 
began  to  pour  in,  by  boat  around  Cape  Horn  and  from 
the  shores  of  Asia  from  Siberia  to  India,  and  across  the 
continent  from  the  East.  Washington  Irving  has  said 
that  two  great  commercial  pursuits  were  the  pioneer  pre- 
cursors of  civilization  on  the  Western  Hemisphere,  the 
search  for  gold  and  the  traffic  in  peltries.  Alaska  has 
had  both,  but  the  fur  trade  was  the  first.  And  in  her 
furs  Alaska  has  been  as  prodigal  as  in  all  her  other  re- 
sources, and  in  these  early  days  poured  a  golden  harvest 
into  the  lap  of  these  pioneer  traders. 

The  first  to  gather  of  it  were  the  Russians,  and  the 
fur  sought  in  the  beginning  and  harvested  so  richly  was 
the  sea  otter.  The  finding  of  the  sea  otter  in  almost 
countless  numbers  was  like  the  discovery  of  a  new  gold 
field.  The  skins  were  bringing  almost  fabulous  prices 
in  China,  and  for  a  time  the  Russians  had  the  field  almost 
to  themselves.  Hut  the  news  spread,  and  by  1792  a 
score  or  more  of  vessels,  under  the  flags  of  many  nations, 

308 


Furs  in  Richness  and  Variety  309 

were  sailing  up  and  down  the  coast  hunting  the  Httle 
animal  and  trading  for  his  skin  with  the  Indians. 

The  fur  of  the  otter  is  a  rich,  lustrous  dark  brown  or 
black,  silvered  or  frosted  with  the  white  tips  of  longer, 
stiffer  hairs.  These  are  removed  when  the  skin  is 
dressed,  leaving  only  the  thick,  soft,  downy  under  fur 
with  its  deep,  shadowy  brown-black  coloring.  These 
skins  at  times  brought  from  two  hundred  to  five  hun- 
dred dollars  each  in  Russia,  and  when  this  rich  treasure 
house  of  them  was  discovered  on  the  shores  of  Alaska, 
the  Aleutian  Islands  and  the  islands  of  Bering  Sea,  dan- 
ger, hardship,  disease  and  death  were  intrepidly  braved 
to  secure  a  share.  If  the  methods  of  getting  them  had 
been  more  worthy,  if  less  greed  had  been  manifested, 
one  could  admire  this  band  of  fur  hunters  that  sailed 
from  the  shores  of  Kamchatka  in  all  kinds  of  vessels  to 
seek  their  prey.  But  they  were  ruthless  in  their  on- 
slaught, cruel  to  the  natives,  and  in  the  course  of  time 
almost  exterminated  both  the  sea  otter  and  the  one-time 
happy,  light  hearted  Aleuts.  Their  descent  upon  the  sea 
otter  was  a  spectacle  of  rapacious  greed  and  inhumanity. 

The  sea  otter  is  a  solitary  animal  and  one  not  easy  to 
capture.  When  in  the  water  it  shows  but  the  tip  of  its 
nose,  except  when  asleep,  when  it  sometimes  lies  on  the 
surface  of  the  waves,  or  when  playing,  for  then  it  will  lie 
on  its  back  in  the  water  tossing  pieces  of  seaweed  from 
one  paw  to  the  other  or  playing  with  its  young.  To 
bring  forth  its  young  it  will  go  to  some  solitary  rock, 
but  at  other  times  it  seldoms  visits  land.  It  is  quick  of 
hearing  and  acute  of  smell. 

When  hunting  it  the  Aleuts  paddled  out  in  their  light 
graceful  skin  boats  to  those  parts  of  the  near-by  waters 
which  the  sea  otter  most  frequented.  Here  they  noise- 
lessly formed  a  line,  the  boats  gliding  over  the  water 


310        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

like  shadows,  for  at  the  least  sound  the  otter  disappeared. 
When  a  little  nose  was  seen  sticking  out  of  the  water, 
the  Aleut  who  saw  it  hurled  a  dart,  at  the  same  time  ele- 
vating his  paddle  as  a  signal  to  the  other  hunters.  Imme- 
diately the  end  of  the  line  closed  in  to  form  a  circle,  each 
hunter  watching  keenly  for  the  reappearance  of  the  ani- 
mal. When  he  came  to  the  surface  a  dart  was  again 
thrown,  and  this  operation  was  continued  until  the  animal 
was  captured.  The  one  who  threw  the  first  dart  obtained 
the  skin. 

At  present  the  sea  otter  is  practically  exterminated. 
In  the  course  of  time  it  will  no  doubt  come  back  com- 
mercially and  if  properly  protected  then  will  again  make 
its  contribution  to  the  beautiful  furs  of  the  world. 

This  story  of  ruthless  extermination  was  almost  re- 
peated in  regard  to  the  fur  seals,  which  are  also  found 
in  these  waters.  Gerrassim  Pribylof  discovered  these 
animals  on  the  islands  which  now  bear  his  name  in  Bering 
Sea  to  the  north  of  the  Aleutian  Islands.  For  a  time  the 
Russians  hunted  these  as  recklessly  as  the  sea  otter,  but 
the  herd  became  so  greatly  reduced  that  finally,  after  the 
Russian-American  Company  came  into  control,  the  kill- 
ing was  restricted.  When  the  United  States  took  over 
Alaska,  the  islands  after  a  year  or  so  were  leased  and 
certain  restrictions  made  as  to  the  number  of  seals  killed. 
But  the  decrease  in  the  herds  still  continued.  Some 
claimed  that  the  decrease  was  due  to  indiscriminate  kill- 
ing by  the  leasing  companies,  that  is,  that  the  females  and 
"  pups  "  as  the  young  seals  are  called,  were  killed.  Oth- 
ers maintained  that  it  was  due  to  poaching  and  open  sea 
or  pelagic  sealing  by  which  the  seals  when  on  their  way 
north  to  rookeries  or  off  the  islands  feeding  were  killed. 
This  pelagic  sealing  was  most  destructive.  The  seals 
were  shot  from  open  boats,  and  as  only  the  head  of  the 


Furs  in  Richness  and  Variety  311 

seal  can  be  seen  in  the  water,  females  ready  to  bear  young 
were  killed,  as  well  as  seal  mothers,  and  the  pups  were 
left  to  starve,  for  the  seal  mother  will  feed  no  baby  seal 
but  her  own.  Counts  made  of  the  dead  and  starvinsr 
young  seals  showed  that  thousands  perished  in  this  way. 
It  was  also  wanton  slaughter  in  other  ways,  for  many 
of  the  seals  shot  could  not  be  recovered. 

This  pelagic  sealing  was  done  by  Canadians,  Japanese 
and  Americans  in  schooners,  and  even  by  natives  in 
canoes.  The  matter  finally  became  so  serious  that  the 
government  took  it  up  and  a  treaty  was  made  by  which 
pelagic  sealing  was  abolished,  and  the  United  States  and 
Russia  agreed  to  pay  Great  Britain  and  Japan  fifteen 
per  cent  of  the  product  of  the  land  sealing  conducted  by 
each  and  the  Japanese  agreed  to  pay  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain  and  Russia  ten  per  cent  of  the  revenue  of 
the  herd  under  her  jurisdiction.  The  Government  also 
took  over  the  islands.  The  herd  and  all  the  business 
connected  with  its  care  are  now  managed  by  the  Govern- 
ment. A  further  law  was  passed  in  1912  that  for  five 
years  no  seals  should  be  killed  except  w^hat  were  needed 
as  food  for  the  natives,  and  the  surplus  of  bachelors,  as 
the  young  males  are  called.  A  fleet  of  revenue  cutters 
is  maintained  with  headquarters  at  Dutch  Harbor  to  see 
that  these  laws  are  not  broken. 

Under  this  careful  constructive  management  the  herd 
is  increasing  and  in  the  course  of  time  will  return  to  the 
numbers  that  made  it  such  a  source  of  wealth  to  the  Rus- 
sians in  the  early  days.  Even  with  all  this  reckless  de- 
struction and  mismanagement  it  has  returned  to  the 
Government  since  the  purchase  considerably  more  than 
ten  millions  dollars  and  this  has  more  than  paid  the  cost 
of  Alaska. 

The  Pribilof  Islands  are  the  summer  home  of  the  seals. 


312        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Just  where  is  their  winter  resort  is  not  definitely  known. 
But  early  in  the  spring  they  are  found  in  the  Pacific 
headed  toward  Bering  Sea  and  from  the  middle  of  June 
to  the  early  part  of  July  they  arrive  at  the  rookeries, 
where  for  the  next  four  or  five  months  they  make  their 
home  and  bear  their  young.  The  rocks  of  these  islands 
which  the  seals  have  scrambled  over  for  years  are  worn 
smooth  and  polished  and  the  sound  of  their  barking  can 
be  heard  for  miles  out  to  sea.  There  are  three  cries, 
when  angry  a  bellow  like  a  calf,  when  calling  to  each 
other  a  milder  cry,  and  when  tired  and  hot  a  piping 
whistle.  Tjiey  come  in  herds  of  thousands  to  these 
islands,  and  the  rocks  and  hills  are  black  with  their 
numbers.  Their  food  is  the  fish  to  be  found  in  the 
waters  thereabouts.  The  lines  of  the  body  of  the  seal 
are  soft  and  flowing  and  their  movement  is  described 
as  like  that  of  a  man  in  a  bag. 

The  male  seal  is  polygamous  and  maintains  a  harem, 
and  many  bloody  battles  take  place  as  to  whom  shall 
dominate  the  harem,  or  by  some  lonely  bachelor  seal 
making  a  raid  and  endeavoring  to  start  a  harem  of  his 
own.  There  is  always  a  large  number  of  these  bachelor 
seals,  and  it  is  these  that  furnish  the  skins  for  com- 
merce. Females  and  pups  are  not  permitted  to  be 
slaughtered. 

When  a  killing  is  to  be  made  several  hundred  are  sep- 
arated from  the  main  herd  and  driven  slowly  into  the 
interior  of  the  island.  As  a  rule,  the  seals  are  timid 
and  follow  each  other  like  sheep,  so  that  if  quietly  and 
gently  done  this  separation  is  not  a  difiicult  matter.  They 
must  be  driven  slowly,  for  they  soon  tire,  and  when  tired 
they  cannot  be  made  to  proceed.  Those  that  tire  and 
refuse  to  go  on  are  killed  and  skinned  at  once. 

The  killing  is  done  with  a  club.     The  animal  is  struck 


Purs  in  Richness  and  Variety  313 

on  the  back  of  the  head  where  the  skull  is  thin  and  then 
while  unconscious  stabbed  in  the  heart  and  bled.  The 
skin  is  separated  from  the  blubber  by  a  few  dexterous 
movements  of  a  long  sharp  knife.  As  seal  skins  will 
spoil  in  a  few  hours,  they  are  taken  at  once  when  skinned 
to  salting  houses,  laid  out  flat,  one  skin  upon  another,  in 
bins  or  on  benches,  the  salt  being  spread  thickly  over 
each  pelt.  They  remain  in  these  salt  bins  for  two  weeks, 
when  they  are  taken  out  and  rolled  pelt  to  pelt  in  bundles 
of  two  skins  each,  strongly  corded  and  packed  in  casks 
of  from  forty  to  fifty  skins  each  and  shipped.  The  skins 
when  received  in  the  States  are  sold  at  auction  and  the 
money  deposited  in  the  Treasury.  At  one  time  the  Aleuts 
were  paid  only  ten  cents  a  skin. 

The  sea  otter  and  the  fur  seal  were  the  first  fur-bearing 
animals  of  Alaska  to  attract  attention,  but  the  country 
is  rich  in  many  others  and  the  Hudson  Bay  traders  that 
came  across  the  country  from  the  east  reaped  a  rich  har- 
vest in  these. 

Foxes  are  numerous.  The  black  fox,  the  most  prized 
of  all,  is  now  seldom  captured  wild,  but  the  red,  the  cross, 
the  silver,  the  blue  and  the  white  are  caught  in  quantity. 

The  mink  is  also  found  abundantly,  thirty-two  thou- 
sand of  these  rich,  lustrous  brown  skins  being  sent  to  the 
States  recently  in  one  year.  The  fur  is  soft,  dense  and 
mixed  with  long,  stiff,  glossy  hairs.  It  shades  from  a 
light  yellowish  brown  in  the  poorer  kinds  to  a  rich  choco- 
late color. 

The  fur  of  the  wolverine  is  not  sent  so  much  to  the 
outside  as  other  skins,  for  it  is  used  by  the  natives  to  trim 
their  parkas,  especially  the  hood  about  the  face.  This 
fur  does  not  collect  on  it  the  ice  or  frost  from  the  breath 
as  other  furs  do,  and  it  is,  therefore,  greatly  valued  for 
wear  in  the  winter  by  those  compelled  to  travel. 


314        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

The  animal  itself  is  heavily  and  clumsily  built,  has 
thick,  stout  limbs  and  walks  with  its  back  arched  and 
head  and  tail  low.  It  has  a  thick,  woolly  under  fur  and 
a  top  coat  of  long,  coarse  hair,  in  color  blackish  brown 
with  distinct  bands  of  chestnut  brown  through  it.  It  is  so 
voracious  it  has  been  termed  the  glutton.  It  is  sagacious 
and  difficult  to  trap,  is  a  natural  born  thief  and  will  steal 
and  hide  articles  for  which  it  has  no  use.  It  is  very 
destructive  and  will  tear  to  pieces  anything  it  can  get 
hold  of,  even  if  it  has  no  desire  to  eat  it.  Many  tales 
are  told  of  the  havoc  wrought  in  cabins  and  caches  by 
wolverines,  of  flour  bags  rent  and  the  flour  tossed  about, 
of  articles  of  wearing  apparel  torn,  of  everything  within 
reach  being  destroyed  if  possible.  So  that  the  animal  is 
sought  not  only  for  its  especially  useful  fur  for  these 
northern  latitudes,  but  to  get  rid  of  its  destructiveness. 

The  lynx  is  quite  numerous  and  has  a  soft,  rich,  thick 
fur,  pale  in.  color.  The  lynx  is  shy,  dwelling  in  deep 
forests  and  bush  country,  where  it  preys  on  birds,  hares 
and  other  small  animals.  The  fur  is  shipped  out  in  great 
quantities. 

The  tiny  white  skin  of  the  ermine  or  stoat,  the  only 
true  ermine,  is  among  Alaska's  fur  products.  This  little 
animal  haunts  stony  places  and  impenetrable  thickets  and 
lives  on  small  animals. 

Marten,  called  by  some  American  sable,  is  found. 
Muskrat  skins  are  among  the  big  yields.  The  beaver, 
though  at  present  giving  small  returns,  was  in  the  early 
days  very  numerous  and  was  the  standard  of  value  of  the 
Yukon  Indians. 

Bear  skins  are  also  in  demand  for  robes  and  rugs,  and 
also  deer,  caribou  skins  and  moosehide  for  various  com- 
mercial purposes. 

In  nearlv  all  .Maskan  towns,  and  in  manv  of  the  road- 


Furs  in  Richness  and  Variety  315 

houses  on  the  trails,  furs  are  on  exhibition  and  for  sale. 
It  is  quite  worth  while  to  see  these  skins  even  if  there  is 
no  intention  to  purchase,  for  they  are  both  interesting  and 
educational.  They  are  not  made  up  for  wear,  but  are 
just  as  they  come  from  the  hunter  or  trapper  and  one 
gets  to  see  some  exquisite  and  beautiful  skins.  Alaskan 
furs  are  thick  and  beautifully  colored,  and  in  these  collec- 
tions one  will  come  across  skins  as  beautiful  in  their  own 
distinctive  way  as  are  jewels,  so  exquisitely  have  they 
caught  the  colorings  of  the  animal's  environment.  In 
the  thick,  soft,  lustrous  fur  you  see  the  black  and  white 
depths  of  winter  woods  warmed  with  the  glow  of  the 
sun,  the  grayish  shadows  of  snow-swept  spaces,  the  brown 
of  dead  leaves  reddish  in  the  sun's  beams.  Through 
these  colorings  you  glimpse  the  haunts  of  the  animals, 
and  as  these  skins  are  direct  from  the  animal's  natural 
habitation,  the  eye  secures  a  valuable  training  in  recog- 
nizing the  genuine  in  furs. 

The  money  to  be  made  in  furs  has  induced  some  to 
take  up  fur  farming.  At  first  the  effort  was  confined  to 
fox  farming,  but  now  the  raising  of  mink  and  marten  is 
being  undertaken.  Altogether  there  are  about  one  hun- 
dred fur  farms  in  the  Territory.  It  is  not  a  business  for 
those  who  want  to  get  rich  quickly  as  the  profits  at  first 
come  in  slowly.  But  if  a  careful  study  is  first  made  of 
the  habits  of  the  animal  to  be  farmed  and  the  work  is 
carried  on  along  scientifix  lines,  the  business  is  in  time 
productive  of  a  steady  income. 

Fox  farming  was  the  first  work  of  this  kind  under- 
taken and  the  original  effort  was  made  on  islands,  as  the 
initial  expense  is  less  and  the  task  of  caring  for  the  ani- 
mals is  easier  than  when  kennels  and  enclosures  have  to 
be  made.  The  foxes  can  roam  freely  over  their  island 
home  and  it  is  thought  that  the  fur  of  animals  from  farms 


316        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

of  this  character  is  better  than  from  those  where  the 
animals  are  penned  up. 

Islands  for  fox  farming  can  be  leased  from  the  gov- 
ernment, and  as  there  is  usually  plenty  of  natural  food 
on  these  islands  the  expense  of  maintenance  is  small. 

But,  the  industry  once  started,  it  was  taken  up  on  the 
mainland,  and  now  on  the  Yukon,  the  Tanana,  and  in 
many  parts  of  Alaska,  fox  farming  and  other  fur  farm- 
ing is  going  on. 

When  done  on  the  mainland  suitable  quarters  must  be 
made.  Soil,  climate  and  location  should  be  carefully 
considered  when  choosing  a  fox  farm.  Limestone  or 
alkaline  soil  will  make  the  fur  brittle  and  harsh.  It  must 
be  remembered,  too,  that  a  fox  delights  in  scratching  and 
digging,  but  if  the  dirt  is  not  soft  and  pliable,  his  feet 
become  sore  and  this  condition  will  eventually  result 
in  his  death,  A  forest  covering  of  spruce,  fir,  pine  or 
cedar  is  desirable. 

The  fox  ranch  may  be  from  half  an  acre  to  five  acres 
in  extent  and  should  be  enclosed  with  a  stockade  fence 
ten  feet  high  and  with  an  inner  wire  of  the  same  height 
so  arranged  that  the  foxes  cannot  burrow  underneath  or 
climb  over  the  top.  Kennels  should  be  large  and  roomy 
and  contain  dens  where  foxes  can  sleep  and  make  their 
nests.  If  these  kennels  can  be  made  two  stories  in  height 
so  much  the  better.  The  lower  part  should  be  compact 
and  tight  and  the  upper  part  open  at  both  ends,  where  the 
foxes  can  lie  in  good  weather  and  sleep  in  the  air  and 
sun.  Foxes  need  plenty  of  sunshine  and  wind  to  keep 
them  in  good  condition.  They  must  also  have  plenty  of 
runway  or  they  will  not  fur  properly.  If  kept  in  re- 
stricted quarters  or  penned  up  in  small  enclosures  the 
pelt  or  hide  will  be  thick  and  the  fur  thin.  Natural  con- 
ditions should  be  duplicated  as  far  as  possible. 


Furs  in  Richness  and  Variety  317 

It  must  be  remembered  also  that  wild  animals  when 
placed  in  restraint  and  subjected  to  unusual  sights  and 
sounds  are  nervous.  Great  care  should  be  taken  to  avoid 
anything  that  will  startle  them.  Foxes  are  especially 
nervous  and  will  go  for  days  with  their  young  in  their 
mouth,  putting  them  first  in  one  place  and  then  in  another 
until  the  pups  die  from  exposure  and  handling.  For  this 
reason  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  see  a  fox  farm,  for  the 
owners  do  not  wish  any  one  about.  Although  the  ani- 
mals become  somewhat  accustomed  to  their  keepers,  even 
these  men  are  careful  not  to  disturb  them  any  more  than 
is  necessary.  One  farm  was  seen  where  the  owner  had 
built  a  sort  of  observation  tower  on  the  roof  of  his  own 
house  from  which  he  could  watch  the  foxes  so  that  he 
need  not  go  to  the  corral  any  more  than  was  absolutely 
necessary.  It  seems  to  be  a  fixed  fact  that  the  less  the 
animals  are  disturbed  the  better. 

Ideas  as  to  the  right  food  vary,  for  this  work  is  yet 
largely  in  its  experimental  stage  and  fur  farmers  are 
trying  out  various  things.  On  the  islands  the  animals 
as  a  rule  secure  their  own  food  from  the  fish  and  birds 
there,  but  in  the  corrals  they  must  be  fed.  Some  farmers 
give  a  diet  consisting  almost  entirely  of  fish,  in  the  sum- 
mer smoked  salmon  or  other  fish,  but  no  salt  food,  and 
in  the  winter  fish  from  which  all  blood  has  been  removed. 
Other  farmers  feed  fish,  bread,  milk,  eggs,  rabbits  and 
even  poultry.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  a  nursing 
mother  fox  should  get  plenty  of  eggs,  milk  and  porridge. 

The  hope  for  increased  profits  in  fox  farming  lies  in 
improving  the  stock  by  selective  breeding,  so  the  farmer 
should  retain  the  darkest  and  most  valuable  animals  and 
sell  only  the  poorer  ones.  There  is  a  temptation  not  to 
do  this,  as  the  finer  skins  bring  more  money,  but  it  is  the 
wisest  course  until  a  fine  stock  is  secured.     As  the  black 


318        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

and  silver  foxes  are  the  most  valuable,  these  are  the  ones 
receiving  the  most  attention,  but  the  other  varieties  are 
also  bred. 

Uncle  Sam  is  himself  in  the  business  and  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands  foxes  are  being  raised  and  the  skins 
shipped  annually  for  auction  in  the  States.  Only  two 
kinds  are  being  bred,  the  white  and  the  blue.  On  St. 
George  Island  the  foxes  are  caught  in  a  large  box  trap 
and  those  which  should  not  be  killed  can  be  released. 
But  on  St.  Paul  Island  the  foxes  cannot  be  trapped  and 
no  selection  can  be  made  of  those  to  be  killed. 

Mink  farming  is  not  so  far  advanced  as  fox  farming, 
but  some  Alaskans  have  undertaken  it  with  good  results. 
It  is  hardly  possible  to  tame  an  adult  wild  mink,  but 
young  mink  can  be  domesticated.  By  nature  mink  are 
solitary  wandering  animals  and  they  cannot  be  reared  suc- 
cessfully in  captivity  if  large  numbers  are  kept  together. 
Their  enclosures  should  be  large  and  as  far  as  possible 
like  those  of  their  wild  state. 

Where  artificial  corrals  must  be  made  the  pens  should 
be  five  or  six  feet  square,  the  sides  of  smooth,  wide  board 
cut  four  feet  long  and  set  up  with  the  lower  end  resting 
on  a  footing  of  stone  or  concrete  eighteen  inches  in  the 
ground.  The  floor  of  the  pen  should  be  the  bare  ground. 
The  pens  can  be  built  economically  in  groups  of  four  or 
more.  The  sides  can  be  of  heavy  wire  netting  instead 
of  boards,  but  in  that  case  the  top  would  need  to  be  netted 
or  the  animals  would  climb  out.  Boxes  about  two  feet 
by  a  foot  and  a  half  should  be  provided  for  nests.  They 
should  have  hinged  lids  so  they  can  be  opened  and  exam- 
ined and  1)e  provided  with  straw  or  hay.  The  boxes  may 
be  outside  the  pens  bolted  to  the  fence  and  about  three  or 
four  inches  above  the  ground.  The  boxes  should  be  as 
dark  as  possible. 


Furs  in  Richness  and  Variety  319 

Some  mink  farmers  say  that  the  best  steady  food  for 
minks  is  bread  and  sweet  milk,  corn  mush  and  milk,  or 
corn  mush  cooked  with  bits  of  meat  in  it.  The  animals 
should  have  meat  or  fish  about  twice  a  week.  The  feed- 
ing pans  should  be  kept  clean  and  the  animals  fed  only 
as  much  as  they  will  eat  at  each  meal.  The  animals 
should  have  but  one  meal  a  day  except  those  that  are 
suckling  young.     The  food  should  not  be  salted. 

Other  ranchers  believe  the  mink  should  be  given  only 
meat  and  fish.  All  these  matters  are  really  yet  subjects 
for  study  and  experimentation.  The  real  secret  of  suc- 
cess for  any  kind  of  fur  farming  is  a  genuine  love  of 
animals,  which  will  lead  to  a  thorough  study  of  their 
habits  and  a  conscientious  care  of  them. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

the   agricultural    possibilities   of   the   territory 

Farjiing  in  Russian  times.      Miners  as  farmers.    Govern- 
ment INTEREST  AND  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  STATIONS, 

What  can  be  grown  in  this  Northland.    The  agricultural 

COLLEGE. 

Agriculture  is  one  of  Alaska's  resources  about  which 
there  is  without  doubt  the  greatest  ignorance  and  the 
strongest  prejudice.  The  gold  of  Alaska  the  world  has 
heard  of.  Furs  are  expected  from  a  cold  country. 
Knowledge  of  its  fisheries  is  beginning  to  penetrate. 
But  agriculture  in  an  Arctic  region?  Impossible.  And 
the  assumption  is  dismissed  with  a  feeling  of  pity  for  the 
person  harboring  such  a  delusion.  Even  when  barley  and 
wheat  four  and  five  feet  high  are  shown,  turnips  weigh- 
ing twenty-one  pounds,  strawberries  of  a  delicate  flavor 
unknown  in  the  States,  and  celery  crisper  and  more  deli- 
cious than  the  famous  output  of  Michigan,  are  produced, 
skepticism  still  prevails  and  these  articles  are  regarded 
suspiciously  as  if  they  were  the  work  of  some  wizard 
purely  for  the  occasion,  and  the  assertion  is  still  stoutly 
made,  "  Agriculture  will  never  amount  to  anything  in 
Alaska.  How  can  it  when  frozen  ground  is  reached 
within  a  foot  or  two  of  the  surface?  Can  you  grow  things 
on  ice?"  This  last  statement  is  supposed  to  settle  the 
matter. 

It  is  said  that  when  some  of  the  Russian  scientists  who 
accompanied  the  early  expeditions  returned  to  Petrograd 
and  told  of  flowers  and  vegetation  growing  on  the  gla- 

320 


Agricultural  Possibilities  of  the  Territory    321 

ciers  they  were  looked  upon  as  the  precursors  of  what  in 
later  years  have  been  politely  termed  nature  fakers  and 
that  it  was  only  the  favor  of  certain  high  officials  at  court 
that  prevented  their  being  sent  to  jail,  there  to  meditate 
as  did  Columbus,  Galileo  and  others  before  them,  upon 
the  unwillingness  of  the  human  mind  to  accept  new  ideas. 
But  as  the  sage  of  Denmark  has  observed,  "  There  are 
more  things  in  heaven  and  earth  than  are  dreamed  of  in 
your  philosophy,  Horatio."  Flowers  and  vegetation  do 
grow  on  the  glaciers  in  Alaska,  and  agriculture  is  not  only 
a  possibility  but  an  already  demonstrated  actuality,  and 
this  despite  the  fact  that  much  of  the  soil  is  frozen  within 
a  foot  or  so  of  the  surface. 

To  paraphrase  a  certain  well  known  remark,  "  Why 
should  it  be  thought  so  strange  a  thing  to  farm  in 
Alaska?"  Norway  and  Sweden  in  the  same  latitude 
have  many  farms  and  support  a  population  of  more  than 
ten  million  people.  In  Norway  there  are  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  farms  and  wheat,  rye,  barley, 
oats,  potatoes  and  such  crops  are  successfully  raised. 
According  to  recent  statistics  ten  thousand  acres  of  wheat 
yielded  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand  bushels, 
thirty-four  thousand  acres  of  rye,  seven  hundred  thousand 
bushels.  The  potato  crop  runs  from  eighteen  million  to 
thirty  million  bushels.  The  horses,  sheep,  goats,  swine, 
reindeer  and  other  cattle  number  in  the  millions.  The 
financial  returns  from  the  butter  and  cheese  alone  are 
$37,520,000. 

In  Sweden  half  the  population  support  themselves  en- 
tirely by  agriculture.  There  are  some  three  hundred  and 
fifty-six  thousand  farms,  and  in  one  year  nine  million 
bushels  of  wheat  were  raised,  twenty-one  million  bushels 
of  rye,  fifteen  million  bushels  of  barley,  eighty  million 
bushels  of  oats  and  six  hundred  and  eighty-three  million 


322        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

bushels  of  potatoes.  The  value  of  the  various  crops  ran 
up  to  almost  half  a  billion  dollars. 

Yet  the  Scandinavians  in  Alaska,  and  there  are  many 
of  them  there,  say  that  the  conditions  for  farming  in 
Alaska  are  better  than  in  their  native  country  and  that  the 
soil  is  richer. 

High  latitude  is  not  necessarily  a  bar  to  farming,  as 
these  figures  show.  But  in  regard  to  farming  in  Alaska, 
latitude  is  not  the  only  factor  to  be  considered.  Climate 
plays  a  far  more  important  part,  for  the  climate  of  the 
Territory  is  not  the  usual  climate  of  this  latitude.  The 
Japanese  current  bathes  the  coast  line  with  warmth  and 
moisture,  making  the  climate  in  this  part  of  Alaska  not 
unlike  that  of  some  of  our  southern  States,  and  high 
mountains  enclose  interior  valleys,  giving  them  a  tem- 
perature not  unlike  that  of  Canada.  These  things  need 
to  be  remembered  as  well  as  latitude  when  considering 
the  agricultural  possibilities  of  the  Territory, 

But  accomplished  results  are  more  to  the  point  than 
climatic  or  geographical  statistics,  and  agriculture  has 
been  one  of  Alaska's  industries  since  the  early  settle- 
ments of  the  Russians  in  1784  and  thereabouts.  Despite 
the  fact  that  implements  and  cattle  had  to  be  brought 
across  Siberia  to  the  western  ocean  and  then  shipped  to 
the  coast  of  America,  gardens  were  planted  and  butter 
and  cheese  made  in  Alaska  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago.  Both  at  Kodiak  and  Sitka  farming  and  cattle  rais- 
ing were  part  of  the  occupations  of  the  people. 

When  the  United  States  took  over  the  country  there 
was  no  thought  of  agriculture  as  one  of  the  industries  of 
the  Territory.  Had  any  one  suggested  it,  probably  a 
lunacy  commission  would  have  1:)ccn  promptly  suggested 
to  sit  on  him.  The  Homestead  laws  were  not  extended 
U)  the  country  fcjr  thirty  years  and  then  they  provided 


Agricultural  Possibilities  of  the  Territory    323 

only  for  homesteading  on  surveyed  lands.  As  there  were 
no  surveyed  lands  the  extension  was  a  farce.  Ten  more 
years  passed  before  the  right  to  homestead  unsurveyed 
lands  was  granted.  In  Oregon,  three  years  after  it  was 
made  a  territory  surveys  were  made,  though  in  some  sec- 
tions the  survey  posts  rotted  away  before  settlers  came. 
With  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Alaska  settlers  came  with  a 
rush,  and  had  there  been  proper  legislation  in  regard  to 
the  land  no  doubt  by  this  time  agriculture  in  Alaska 
would  be  far  more  advanced  than  it  is  to-day,  both  to 
the  advantage  of  Alaska  and  the  country  at  large. 

But  despite  the  ignorance  and  indifference  that  held 
back  the  development  of  the  land,  individual  settlers  here 
and  there  saw  agricultural  possibilities,  and  just  as  in 
California  many  who  came  to  mine  took  up  ranching,  so 
in  Alaska  those  who  failed  to  find  gold  started  in  to  raise 
food  for  those  who  did,  or  in  other  cases  supplemented 
their  mining  with  farming.  Little  farms  and  truck 
patches  began  to  spring  into  being  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  mining  camps  and  they  were  found  so  profitable  that 
their  owners  gave  up  mining  and  devoted  themselves  alto- 
gether to  their  farms. 

One  of  the  successful  farmers  at  Haines  began  in  this 
way,  intending  to  supplement  his  mining  on  a  neighbor- 
ing creek  with  a  strawberry  patch.  "  I  soon  discovered, 
however,"  he  says  in  discussing  his  business,  "  that  I 
could  make  more  money  out  of  growing  strawberries 
than  I  could  out  of  my  mine  and  I  quit  the  mining  and 
devoted  myself  to  my  ranch."  He  has  a  prosperous  farm, 
and  at  the  Exposition  at  Seattle  in  1909,  his  strawberries 
took  the  gold  medal  over  all  the  exhibits  from  the  Pacific 
coast. 

Many  others  were  like  him  and  reports  began  to  reach 
the  government  of  what  was  being  accomplished.     As  a 


324        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


result,  special  agents  were  sent  to  see  if  agriculture  in 
Alaska  was  practicable.  Their  report  showed  that  there 
was  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  square  miles  adapted 
to  agriculture  in  some  form.  It  was  realized,  however, 
that  for  farming  to  go  forward  most  successfully  it  was 
necessary  to  study  the  special  conditions  to  be  met  and 
experiment  stations  were  established  in  various  parts  of 
the  Territory.  Professor  C.  C.  Georgeson,  an  experienced 
agronomist,  was  placed  in  charge  with  headquarters  at 
Sitka.  These  stations  are  doing  most  helpful  construc- 
tive work  and  agriculture  in  Alaska  is  now  on  a  basis 
where  it  should  prove  successful  and  profitable. 

Professor  Georgeson,  who  has  been  called  the  plant 
wizard  of  the  North,  is  sanely  enthusiastic  over  the  agri- 
cultural possibilities  of  Alaska.  He  knows  it  has  a  future 
agriculturally  in  certain  lines  and  these  lines  he  wants  to 
bring  to  their  best  and  fullest  expression.  He  does  not 
hold  out  promises  of  untold  riches  to  agriculturists  nor 
of  easy  farming.  But  he  does  say  that  if  farming  is  done 
in  line  with  Alaska's  limitations  it  can  be  made  to  pay, 
can  supply  home  markets,  and  be  a  useful  feature  in 
Alaska's  development. 

Both  by  early  environment  and  by  training,  Professor 
Georgeson  is  well  fitted  for  the  problems  that  confront 
him.  He  was  born  in  Denmark  and  was  a  student  of 
agriculture  on  several  large  Danish  estates.  After  this 
training  he  came  to  America  and  took  a  B.  S.  degree  in 
the  Michigan  State  Agricultural  College  and  later  taught 
in  various  state  agriculture  colleges  and  in  the  Imperial 
College  of  Agriculture  in  Japan.  He  is  one  of  the  world's 
greatest  experts  in  the  cross  breeding  of  plants  and  he 
has  bent  his  energies  and  talents  to  evolving  varieties 
suitable  to  low  temperatures. 

He  has  a  corps  of  trained  and  enthusiastic  hcl|)crs  who 


Agricultural  Possibilities  of  the  Territory    325 

are  eager  to  bring  agriculture  in  Alaska  to  its  best  de- 
velopment and  who  patiently  and  earnestly  study  climatic 
and  soil  conditions  in  various  parts  of  the  Territory  and 
experiment  with  vegetables,  fruits  and  grains  to  get  those 
best  adapted  to  conditions  there. 

Stations  are  established  at  Sitka,  Kodiak,  Matanuska, 
Fairbanks  and  Rampart.  The  work  at  Sitka  is  confined 
principally  to  experimentation  with  fruits  and  vegetables. 
Kodiak  is  given  over  chiefiy  to  cattle  raising  and  dairying. 
Fairbanks  takes  up  farming  in  general,  and  Rampart  is 
devoted  chiefly  to  working  out  problems  for  the  far 
northern  farmer,  for  Rampart  is  in  the  shadow  of  the 
Arctic  Circle.  The  station  at  Matanuska  has  only  re- 
cently been  established.  This  is  the  section  of  the  govern- 
ment railroad  and  as  there  are  promising  agricultural 
possibilities  in  this  region  and  as  it  is  one  that  will  be 
developed  the  soonest,  both  on  account  of  the  demand  for 
agricultural  products  and  because  of  the  help  transporta- 
tion will  give,  it  was  thought  wise  to  establish  a  station 
here  to  render  all  assistance  possible. 

At  Sitka  a  small  acreage  is  cleared  and  here  the  work 
of  studying  the  fruits  and  vegetables  best  adapted  to 
Alaska  goes  forward.  Perhaps  the  most  famous  product 
of  this  work  is  a  hybrid  strawberry  that  is  becoming 
widely  known  for  its  delicious  flavor  but  which  has  a  qual- 
ity equally  desirable  in  Alaska,  hardihood.  To  secure 
this  strawberry  about  fifty  different  plants  were  taken 
and  crossed  with  the  native  wild  strawberry.  From  the 
result  of  this  experiment  seven  thousand  plants  were 
taken,  each  with  some  special  characteristic,  and  experi- 
mented upon  until  about  forty  varieties  were  obtained. 
The  berries  are  large  in  size  and  have  a  peculiarly  deli- 
cious spicy  flavor  reminiscent  of  the  best  of  the  cultivated 
varieties  and  of  the  sweet  tang  of  the  wild  berry,  and  are 


326        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


hardy  enough  to  stand  Alaskan  winters.  The  securing  of 
these  results  was  a  long  and  tedious  process  and  required 
infinite  patience.  But  Professor  Georgeson  and  his  asso- 
ciates have  all  the  untiring  enthusiasm  of  the  scientist  and 
no  effort  is  considered  too  great  if  it  will  help  produce  the 
desired  result. 

Experiments  have  also  been  made  in  regard  to  fruit 
trees,  but  so  far  these  have  not  been  successful.  Cross 
breeding  has  been  done  with  early,  hardy  apple  trees  of 
the  northern  States  and  with  a  native  crab-apple,  but  the 
results  are  not  palatable  for  eating.  Cherry  trees  do  not 
yield  well. 

The  work  at  the  Kodiak  Station  is  devoted  mostly  to 
the  study  of  the  cattle  suitable  for  Alaska  and  to  dairying. 
Experiments  have  been  made  to  develop  an  all-purpose 
cow  and  also  a  cow  suitable  for  the  coldest  interior  parts 
of  the  Territory.  Galloway  cattle  were  selected  as  the 
stock  that  would  best  fill  all  requirements,  for  the  Gallo- 
way cow  needs  less  protection  than  other  breeds,  owing  to 
the  heavy  coat  of  hair  that  has  developed  through  two 
hundred  years  and  more  of  outdoor  life  in  the  Scotch 
climate.  This  cow  can  also  stand  rough  usage,  a  point 
to  be  considered  with  present  means  of  transportation  in 
Alaska,  and  she  has  no  horns,  an  advantage  in  crowded 
quarters.  The  meat  and  milk  are  good.  It  is  believed 
from  these  Galloway  cattle  a  strain  can  be  developed  that 
will  meet  all  requirements  in  Alaska. 

For  the  most  severe  parts  of  the  interior  a  cross  be- 
tween the  Galloway  and  the  yak  is  being  considered.  The 
yak  belongs  to  Thibet,  where  the  winters  are  severe  and 
life  strenuous.  He  is  the  ox  of  that  country,  is  a  meat 
producer,  and  grows  a  coat  of  hair  that  will  resist  ex- 
tremely low  temperature. 

At  Rampart  experiments  arc  made  toward   evolving 


Agricultural  Possibilities  of  the  Territory    327 

the  hardiest  grains  and  vegetables  in  a  short  season.  Bar- 
ley, oats  and  alfalfa  are  tested  out  here  as  well  as  some 
vegetables.  A  special  study  of  soils  and  fertilizers  is  also 
made  here,  as  the  soil  of  the  Yukon  valley  is  different 
from  that  of  some  other  parts  of  Alaska  and  needs  special 
treatment. 

The  work  at  the  Fairbanks  station  is  more  general  in 
character  and  may  be  said  to  be  more  representative.  The 
farm  here  is  quite  large  and  as  it  is  located  in  what  is  con- 
sidered Alaska's  biggest  and  richest  agricultural  section, 
the  great  Tanana  Valley,  the  work  at  Fairbanks  is  adapted 
to  meet  a  large  and  diversified  need. 

The  farm  lies  about  six  miles  from  Fairbanks  and  is 
reached  by  the  Tanana  Valley  Railroad,  now  a  part  of  the 
government  road,  and  also  by  an  auto  road  which  affords 
a  beautiful  ride  through  tracts  of  brilliant  wild  flowers, 
stretches  of  spicy  spruce  woods,  and,  on  clear  days,  with 
views  of  the  distant  snow-capped  peaks  of  the  McKinley 
Range,  against  a  vividly  blue  sky.  The  farm  buildings 
stand  on  a  pleasant  southern  slope  with  a  birch  woods 
back  of  them  and  a  great  chain  of  snow  mountains  bound- 
ing the  horizon  in  front. 

The  work  done  here  is  to  increase  the  grains  that  have 
been  produced  at  Rampart  and  to  demonstrate  the  feasi- 
bility of  farming  in  Alaska  generally.  This  station  en- 
deavors to  foresee  the  problems  that  await  the  Alaska 
farmer,  to  work  them  out  and  thus  to  be  ready  with  prac- 
tical advice  and  help  when  the  farmer  needs  it. 

About  one  hundred  acres  are  under  cultivation,  de- 
voted to  the  work  of  testing  and  developing  various 
grains  and  vegetables  and  to  raising  small  crops  of  those 
that  have  so  far  proven  the  best.  The  crops  raised  are 
distributed  in  small  quantities  among  the  farmers  of 
Alaska  as  seed  and  in  some  cases  sold.    The  selling  of  the 


328        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland  1 

crops  is,  however,  not  a  permanent  feature  of  the  work. 
Present  conditions  sometimes  make  it  necessary.  It  is 
not  intended  for  the  experiment  stations  to  enter  into 
competition  with  the  settlers  and  when  there  are  sufficient 
farmers  to  make  this  unnecessary  it  will  not  be  done. 

The  farm  is  a  living  book  in  agriculture  in  which  every 
little  section  is  an  interesting  chapter.  In  the  various 
testing  plats  for  instance  the  seed  from  a  single  head  of 
barley  or  oats  or  wheat  is  planted  and  a  stake  with  all 
necessary  information  upon  it  is  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  row.  The  growth  of  every  little  plant  in  the  row  is 
carefully  watched  and  when  all  come  to  harvest  the  seed 
of  the  best  is  taken.  All  the  data  about  it  are  carefully 
recorded  and  the  following  year  this  seed  is  planted  and 
the  process  is  repeated  until  heads  that  bear  splendidly  are 
secured,  when  possibly  an  acre  plat  will  be  planted  with 
this,  and  if  the  result  is  as  expected  this  seed  will  be  dis- 
tributed. This  process  takes  from  three  to  four  years  and 
requires  innumerable  and  careful  records,  for  the  seed  of 
each  head  that  is  kept  and  planted  must  have  its  statistics. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  this  is  done  with  many  va- 
rieties of  oats,  wheat  and  barley,  that  potatoes  are  studied 
in  the  same  fashion,  that  experiments  in  the  rotation  of 
crops  and  soil  fertilizers  are  also  carried  on,  it  can  be  seen 
how  busy  and  interesting  a  place  this  is.  One  of  these 
experiments  that  started  with  a  half  teacup ful  of  small 
Russian  wheat  yielded  in  the  fourth  year  two  hundred  and 
sixty-five  bushels.  Two  heads  of  hulless  and  beardless 
barley  produced  by  the  same  process  forty-six  ounces  and 
a  handful  of  Canadian  oats  resulted  in  sixty-nine  bushels 
to  the  acre  in  three  years. 

Potato  growing  in  Alaska  was  not  for  a  time  a  success 
as  the  potatoes  were  watery.  The  .Alaskans  refused  to 
buy  them,  preferring  U)  pay  the  higher  cost  of  outside 


Agfricultiiral  Possibilities  of  the  Territory    329 

potatoes.  The  experiment  station  took  the  matter  up, 
discovered  that  potatoes  needed  to  be  grown  on  the  hill- 
sides instead  of  in  the  valleys,  tested  out  some  forty  to 
fifty  kinds  and  found  seven  that  were  best  adapted  to  the 
conditions  to  be  met,  and  now  potatoes  are  among  the 
most  successful  and  profitable  crops. 

Among  the  other  experiments  at  the  station  is  the 
working  out  of  a  system  of  maintaining  soil  fertility  by 
a  rotation  of  crops  instead  of  sacrificing  the  land  by  a 
summer  fallow.  A  short  four-year  rotation  that  is  appli- 
cable to  any  farm  is  being  tried,  and  if  it  can  be  recom- 
mended, the  result  will  be  passed  on  to  the  farmers  who 
cannot  afford  to  risk  such  tests  themselves.  A  minor  soil 
experiment  is  the  ploughing  under  as  a  green  manure  of 
clover  hay,  part  being  ploughed  with  the  top  on  and  part 
with  the  top  off. 

In  addition  to  the  testing  plats  there  are  acres  of  oats, 
wheat,  barley,  buckwheat,  potatoes  and  such  crops,  a 
garden  where  vegetables  for  the  home  table  are  in  a 
prosperous  condition  and  many  beautiful  flowers  about 
the  house. 

A  big  root  cellar,  which  is  a  necessary  part  of  every 
Alaskan  farm,  is  part  of  the  equipment  of  the  station. 
It  is  forty  feet  long,  sixteen  feet  wnde  and  seven  and  a 
half  feet  high.  It  is  lined  with  barked  poles  to  prevent 
the  soil  from  caving  when  it  thaws.  There  is  a  large  ante- 
room in  which  there  is  a  stove,  and  in  the  rear  of  the 
cellar  are  ventilators  through  which  circulation  can  be 
established  when  the  atmosphere  is  artificially  warmed,  as 
it  is  necessary  to  do  when  the  temperature  falls  below 
sixty  degrees,  as  it  often  does  in  this  section.  This  cellar 
is  always  plentifully  stocked  with  many  varieties  of  pota- 
toes ready  to  be  sent  out  to  the  farmers  who  may  need 
them. 


330        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


As  a  result  of  the  work  done  at  the  experiment  stations 
in  Alaska,  a  large,  luscious  strawberry  has  been  developed, 
it  has  been  proven  that  raspberries,  currants,  gooseberries 
and  other  berries  can  be  cultivated,  and  that  no  apple  or 
fruit  trees  so  far  discovered  will  stand  the  climate.     A 
number  of  varieties  of  good  potatoes  have  been  evolved. 
Cabbage,   cauliflower,   broccoh,   kale,    Brussels    sprouts, 
turnips,  carrots,  swiss  chard,  celery,  lettuce,  radishes,  are 
all  suitable  for  raising.  The  Alaska  cauliflower  is  famous. 
It  is  larger,  crisper  and  better  flavored  than  that  grown 
elsewhere.    A  wheat  that  will  mature  in  one  hundred  days 
has  been  evolved,  also  a  hardy  alfalfa,  and  beardless  and 
hulless  barley,  desirable  because  barley  hay  is  one  of  the 
most  important  crops  and  bearded  barley  causes  soreness 
in  the  mouths  of  stock  and  even  sets  up  dangerous  in- 
flammation.    A  sturdy  strain  of  cattle  that  have  an  all- 
round  usefulness  is  also  part  of  the  good  results  produced. 
These  things  are  the  very  basis  of  successful  farming 
in  Alaska.     But  those  working  at  Alaska's  agricultural 
problems  are  not  stopping  here.     They  want  the  farmers 
to  realize  that  farming  is  a  three  hundred  and  sixty-five 
day  job,  not  a  matter  of  clearing  a  little  patch  of  land  and 
planting  a  few  potatoes.    Mining,  fishing  and  such  things 
can  occupy  them  part  of  the  time,  or  provide  channels  of 
employment  for  members  of  the  family.     But  to  make 
farming  pay  and  to  get  the  most  out  of  it,  it  must  be  done 
in  a  workmanlike  manner,  and  this  the  force  at  the  sta- 
tions are  trying  to  impress  upon  those  taking  up  farming. 
They  are  trying  to  show  them  that  there  should  1)e  a 
variety  of  crops,  that  there  should  be  chickens  and  some 
cattle,  that  every  family  should  have  a  cow  or  two,  hogs, 
sheep,  possibly  goats,  and  that  all  this  is  possible.   Native 
grasses  are  plentiful.     In  many  places  are  grass  lands  in 
valleys  suitable  for  ranching  cattle  seven  months  in  the 


Agricultural  Possibilities  of  the  Territory    331 

year.  Hogs  can  use  material  otherwise  wasted,  and  field 
peas,  barley  and  potatoes  make  an  excellent  food  for 
bacon  hogs,  which  is  the  type  needed,  and  the  type  experi- 
ments are  being  made  to  breed.  In  fact,  everything  that 
can  forward  agricultural  development  in  Alaska,  the 
experiment  station  service  is  on  the  alert  to  do,  whether 
it  is  a  matter  of  producing  actual  material  results  or  of 
lifting  the  standards  of  farming  to  higher  levels. 

The  sections  most  adapted  to  farming  are  the  Tanana 
Valley,  the  valleys  along  the  line  of  the  government  rail- 
road, the  Copper  River  Valley,  the  region  between  the 
Tanana  River  and  the  Fortymile  River  and  various  sec- 
tions along  the  coast. 

The  region  between  the  Tanana  River  and  the  Forty- 
mile  is  estimated  to  contain  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand acres  and  to  be  one  of  the  most  productive  sections 
of  Alaska.  Kodiak  and  some  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  are 
especially  suitable  for  grazing,  and  here  and  at  various 
coastal  sections  are  to  be  found  the  abundant  beach 
grasses.  These  are  a  coarse,  vigorous  grass  that  grows 
along  the  salt  water  beaches  close  enough  to  the  water  to 
be  inundated  only  by  the  highest  tides.  It  attains  a  height 
of  about  four  feet  and  has  a  seed  head  which  somewhat 
resembles  wheat.  This  grass  makes  excellent  silage. 
The  settler  who  can  include  twenty  or  thirty  acres  of  this 
grass  in  his  homestead  is  in  luck.  The  Kuskokwim  coun- 
try, when  opened  up,  will  make  another  desirable  section 
for  agriculture.  This  region  also  abounds  in  native 
grasses,  which  make  excellent  fodder  in  summer  and  silo 
material  in  winter.  It  is  impossible  to  gauge  accurately 
the  amount  of  land  suitable  for  farming,  for  some  sec- 
tions of  the  Territory  have  not  been  thoroughly  surveyed. 
But  undoubtedly  there  are  millions  of  acres.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  the  agricultural  and  grazing  area  of  Alaska 


332        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


is  equal  to  the  combined  areas  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland, 
Delaware,  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  Ver- 
mont, and  New  Hampshire. 

The  land  can  be  taken  up  by  settlers  under  the  Home- 
stead Act,  full  information  about  which  can  be  obtained 
from  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington  or 
the  Land  Office  at  Juneau.  There  are  already  about  two 
thousand  homesteaders  in  the  Territory. 

Almost  all  the  agricultural  land  has  to  be  cleared.  This 
is  an  expensive  process  if  labor  for  the  work  must  be 
hired,  as  wages  in  Alaska  are  high.  But  it  is  not  hard 
work.  The  ground  is  usually  burnt  over  first.  The  roots 
of  the  trees  are  shallow,  owing  to  the  frozen  subsoil,  and 
are  easily  removed  even  when  not  burned.  But  the  burn- 
ing makes  the  work  still  easier.  It  also  leaves  the  soil 
loose  and  fine,  making  it  easy  to  work. 

In  so  large  a  Territory  as  Alaska  the  soil  varies  greatly. 
In  some  places  it  requires  special  treatment.  But  these 
problems  have  been  worked  out  by  the  government  ex- 
periment stations  and  those  in  charge  are  only  too  glad  to 
answer  questions  and  give  all  the  help  they  can. 

To  further  agricultural  development  in  Alaska  an 
agricultural  college  has  been  established.  It  is  located  on 
the  government  experimental  farm  at  Fairbanks.  The 
edifice  consists  of  two  stories  and  a  basement,  the  main 
building  being  so  planned  that  additions  can  easily  be 
made.  There  are  a  number  of  class  rooms,  a  large  audi- 
torium, laboratories  for  physics,  chemistry  and  such 
studies,  a  library,  manual  training  and  domestic  science 
department,  and  all  that  is  essential  for  a  college  of  this 
character.  The  Federal  government  appropriates  $50,000 
a  year  for  equipment  and  the  Territorial  Legislature  has 
appropriated  $60,000  for  the  buildings  and  pays  for  the 
upkeep. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

transportation  problems 

Travelling  facilities  few.     The  Alaska  dog  and  the  aid  he 
RENDERS.    The     road     commission     and     its    work.     The 

GOVERNMENT    RAILROAD.      Mt.     McKiNLEY     NATIONAL     PaRK. 

The  Copper  River  and  Northwestern  Railroad  and  the 
romance  of  its  building. 

The  United  States  government  w^hen  it  first  took  over 
Alaska  had  scant  realization  of  the  extent  or  value  of  the 
territory  acquired.  For  many  years  little  was  done  for 
the  country.  A  military  governor  was  appointed,  a  few^ 
officials  -were  installed  here  and  there  and  then  no  further 
thought  was  given  it.  Despite  Sumner's  eloquent  plea  in 
the  Senate,  despite  such  information  as  Secretary  Seward 
and  a  few  others  had  tried  to  disseminate,  Alaska  was 
still  considered  a  barren  and  uninhabitable  region. 

But  gradually  as  prospectors  penetrated  the  country 
and  reports  filtered  back  of  gold  and  other  minerals  being 
found,  and  especially  when  the  great  rush  of  '98  took 
place,  the  needs  of  Alaska  in  certain  directions  began  to 
be  pressed  upon  the  officials  at  Washington.  Among  the 
first  of  these  necessities  to  be  brought  to  the  attention  of 
legislators  was  transportation,  and  it  still  remains  one  of 
the  biggest  problems  to  be  solved. 

The  dog  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  still  is  one  of  the 
big  factors  in  travelling  in  Alaska.  But  a  country  to 
develop  to  its  utmost  capacity  must  get  beyond  the  dog 
stage  of  transportation.     At  the  best,   the  amount  of 

333 


334        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

freight  and  supplies  that  can  be  hauled  by  dogs  for  a 
country  as  vast  as  Alaska  is  negligible. 

But  until  better  means  shall  come,  the  Alaskan  must 
rely  upon  his  dog,  and  in  the  winter  travelling  by  dog 
team  is  the  chief  means  of  getting  about  in  the  interior. 
The  Alaska  dog  has  an  unique  and  important  place  in 
Alaskan  life.  In  many  sections  he  is  far  more  prized  than 
a  horse,  and  his  cost,  when  of  a  fine  breed,  has  been  equal 
to,  if  not  in  some  cases  higher,  than  that  of  the  horse. 

The  two  Alaskan  dogs  best  known  are  the  malamute, 
"  maribou,"  one  tourist  insisted  upon  calling  them,  and  the 
husky.  There  is  still  a  third,  called  the  Siwash  or  Indian 
dog.  But  the  malamute  and  husky  are  the  ones  chiefly 
used  in  the  dog  teams  and  the  ones  usually  meant  when 
Alaskan  dogs  are  spoken  of. 

As  to  the  family  tree  of  these  dogs  there  is  much  differ- 
ence of  opinion.  Some  claim  that  both  have  wolfish  an- 
cestry, others  that  there  is  no  wolf  blood  in  them.  Those 
who  support  the  wolf  theory  say  that  when  the  dogs  are 
puppies  their  method  of  drinking  water  is  watched  and 
those  that  show  too  great  a  preponderance  of  wolfish 
nature  are  killed  for  fear  they  will  prove  dangerous.  But 
on  several  points  in  regard  to  the  Alaskan  dog  there  is 
much  controversy.  Some  maintain  that  the  story  of  their 
making  a  bed  in  the  snow  is  all  myth,  while  others,  some 
of  them  dog  owners,  stoutly  maintain  they  have  seen 
dogs  do  it. 

However,  these  discussions  have  little  real  value.  Both 
malamute  and  husky  are  the  Alaskan's  good  friends  and 
haul  him  and  his  supplies  over  the  snow  wastes  in  winter 
and  patiently  become  a  pack  animal  in  summer  if  neces- 
sary. 

The  malamute  is  primarily  the  Eskimo  dog.  He  has  a 
thick  coat,  usually  silver  gray  in  color,  a  graceful,  bushy 


Transportation  Problems  335 

tail,  carried  high,  a  sharp,  black  nose,  prick  ears  and  nar- 
row eyes.  He  is  keen,  alert,  intelhgent  looking,  a  tireless 
worker  and  willing  always  to  do  his  share  in  a  fight.  His 
feet  are  tough  and  clean,  and  the  feet  of  an  Alaskan  dog 
are  an  important  part  of  their  anatomy,  for  they  must 
stand  travel  over  ice  and  snow  without  getting  tender  or 
sore. 

The  Husky  was  bred  by  the  Hudson  Bay  voyageurs 
from  dogs  of  the  Indians  and  a  carefully  selected  strain 
of  imported  dogs,  or  else  from  careful  selections  of  the 
Indian  dogs.  It  is  perhaps  a  trifle  larger  than  the  mala- 
mute,  both  body  and  legs  being  larger.  But  his  coat 
looks  much  the  same  and  he  carries  his  tail  in  the  same 
plume-like  fashion.  His  ears  are  not  so  permanently 
pricked.     He  is  more  used  in  the  interior. 

The  Siwash  looks  somewhat  like  a  small  malamute. 
He  is  a  good  worker,  but,  in  the  main,  is  uncared  for  and 
half  starved. 

The  Siberian  hound  has  been  brought  in,  and  of  late 
years  there  has  been  interbreeding  with  collies,  setters, 
pointers,  Newfoundlands  and  St.  Bernards. 

The  food  of  the  Alaska  dog  is  principally  fish.  But 
some  dog  owners  add  cereals  to  this  and  tallow  or  fat  in 
some  form.  In  summer  the  dogs  are  often  boarded  at 
dog  ranches.  These  dog  ranches  can  be  seen  here  and 
there  along  the  Yukon  and  Tanana  Rivers.  The  dogs  are 
exceedingly  unhappy  looking.  They  are  kept  tied,  and 
as  the  temperature  is  apt  to  be  high  and  they  have  a  thick 
coat,  they  are  most  uncomfortable. 

The  harness  is  simply  a  band  that  goes  around  the 
shoulders  and  over  the  breast.  The  dogs  are  driven  both 
tandem  and  in  pairs.  The  doubling  up  method  is  con- 
sidered the  better,  as  when  they  are  tandem  ice  collects  on 
the  tails  from  the  breath  of  the  dog:  behind  and  becomes 


336        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

quite  a  weight.  This  led  for  a  while  to  the  bobbing  of 
their  tails.  But  the  tail  is  quite  a  protection  when  sleeping 
at  night,  as  the  dog  curls  it  over  his  nose  and  paws  in 
quite  a  snuggly  fashion.  The  leader  is  important  and 
must  be  the  most  intelligent  of  the  team.  The  dogs  are 
trained  to  obe}^  spoken  directions  and  respond  to  "  mush," 
"  gee,"  and  such  commands  as  well  as  a  horse.  "  Mush," 
corrupted  from  "  marche,"  used  by  the  French  dog 
drivers  on  the  Mackenzie,  has  become  an  accepted  part  of 
the  Alaskan's  vocabulary.  If  quick  travelling  is  desired, 
about  fifty  pounds  to  a  dog  is  a  load,  though  a  dog  can 
pull  as  much  as  one  hundred  pounds.  From  five  to  seven 
dogs  is  considered  the  best  team.  Those  travelling  seldom 
ride  on  the  sled  but  run  along  with  it  and  jump  on  and 
off  the  runners. 

Since  the  introduction  of  the  reindeer  these  are  now 
used  by  many  for  travelling  in  place  of  dogs.  One  can 
ride  on  the  reindeer  sleds  and  the  food  does  not  have  to  be 
carried  as  with  the  dogs.  But  some  objection  is  made  to 
the  reindeer  because  they  must  be  herded  while  feeding 
and  also  because  they  cannot  stand  hard,  steady  travel  day 
in  and  out  merely  on  moss.  An  effort  is  being  made  to 
train  reindeer  to  eat  oats  and  heavier  food  that  will  give 
greater  endurance. 

But  Alaska  needs  more  than  dog  and  reindeer  travelling 
for  the  development  of  its  countless  and  varied  resources. 
The  people  need  to  get  about.  They  need  to  get  supplies 
and  machinery  in  at  the  lowest  possible  cost.  Good  wagon 
roads  and  railroads  are  the  prime  essential.  At  present 
the  people  of  the  interior  are  served  by  the  White  Pass 
and  Yukon  route  over  the  mountains  from  Skagway  and 
down  the  river;  up  the  river  from  St.  Michael,  the  freight 
for  this  route  coming  by  a  long,  roundabout  journey  from 
Seattle  anrl  other  racific  ports,  or  else  over  trails  from 


Transportation  Problems  337 

Cordova,  Valdez  and  this  section.  In  the  winter  the 
Yukon  and  all  Bering  Sea  ports  are  closed  with  ice, 
which  leaves  only  the  trail  from  the  coast.  Supplies  are 
brought  in  by  this  route  by  horse  sleighs  and  when  practi- 
cable by  automobile  and  thence  sent  by  dog  sleds  to  camps 
and  towns.  There  is  a  winter  stage  route  from  White 
Horse  to  Dawson  whence  miners  mush  with  dogs  to  out- 
lying camps.  But  the  cost  of  all  such  freighting  and  trav- 
elling is  extremely  high  and  greatly  retards  development. 

When  the  gold  rush  of  '98  roused  the  people  of  the 
States  for  a  brief  while  to  an  interest  in  Alaska,  the  gov- 
ernment sent  an  exploring  party  to  report  on  the  advisa- 
bility of  a  route  from  the  southwest  coast  to  the  middle 
and  upper  parts  of  the  Yukon.  A  route  was  selected  from 
Valdez  to  the  interior  and  a  trail  for  a  pack  train  made. 
In  1904  an  appropriation  was  made  for  a  wagon  road 
from  Valdez  to  Eagle  but  no  action  was  taken.  Later 
every  able-bodied  man  in  the  Territory  between  eighteen 
and  fifty  years  of  age  was  taxed  eight  dollars  and  the 
money  was  expended  on  roads  by  a  road  overseer.  But 
this  plan  did  not  prove  satisfactory  and  it  was  al)andoned. 
Finally,  in  1905,  a  board  of  road  commissioners  composed 
of  three  army  officers  was  appointed,  the  work  placed  in 
charge  of  the  war  department  and  systematic  work  of  a 
permanent  nature  begun. 

The  task  confronting  the  new  board  was  not  an  easy 
one.  The  region  in  which  they  were  to  operate  was  equal 
in  area  to  about  one-fifth  of  the  whole  United  States  and 
it  had  problems  in  road  construction  which  no  other  part 
of  the  country  offered.  In  some  places  the  ground  was 
permanently  frozen.  In  others  there  were  numerous 
glacial  streams  to  be  reckoned  with,  and  a  glacial  stream 
has  a  character  all  its  own  and  a  mood  as  changeable  as 
an  April  day.     Other  sections  were  quagmires  through 


338        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

which  either  a  horse  or  a  man,  even  without  a  load,  could 
pass  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  There  were  as  well 
mountain  ranges  to  be  traversed,  heavy  timber  and  dense 
undergrowth  to  be  met.  These  latter  are  of  course  among 
the  usual  problems  of  road  building  but  in  this  instance 
they  were  added  to  the  new  and  unusual.  In  fact,  road 
building  in  Alaska  presented  a  combination  of  all  the 
hardest  problems  that  can  confront  the  road  engineer. 
There  were  no  easy  stretches.  In  addition,  the  season  was 
short  and  the  field  of  operations  far  from  the  base  of 
supplies.  All  materials  needed  had  to  be  brought  a  jour- 
ney by  water  of  from  one  thousand  to  almost  three  thou- 
sand miles  according  to  the  destination,  and  this  in  addi- 
tion to  the  distance  already  travelled  to  the  embarkation 
point  in  the  States,  usually  Seattle.  In  some  instances  all 
this  equipment  had  to  be  transported  over  high  moun- 
tain ranges  and  in  the  beginning  over  unbridged  rivers. 
In  some  places  two  hundred  pounds  of  horse  feed  a  day 
had  to  be  allowed  for  the  going  in  and  the  same  amount 
for  the  coming  out,  with  a  thousand  pounds  addi- 
tional in  the  spring  when  there  were  no  grasses  for  for- 
age. Three  pounds  had  to  be  carried  for  every  pound 
that  was  used  during  the  actual  working  operations. 

Nature's  obstacles  were,  however,  not  the  only  diffi- 
culties that  confronted  the  road  builders.  The  money 
appropriated  for  the  work  was  a  certain  per  cent  of  the 
Alaska  Fund.  But  the  Alaska  Fund  was  an  uncertain 
amount  and  so  the  commission  could  not  plan  its  work  on 
a  definite  basis  of  so  much  money  at  a  certain  time.  Such 
uncertainty,  especially  in  regard  to  work  in  Alaska  where 
preparations  must  be  made  long  in  advance  of  actual 
operations,  is  a  great  handicap.  So  serious  was  this  that 
the  Secretary  of  War  took  the  matter  up  with  Congress 
and  the  item  was  transferred  from  the  Alaska  Fund  to 


Transportation  Problems  339 

specific  appropriation.  But  this  is,  too,  in  a  way  uncer- 
tain, as  it  is  dependent  upon  the  will  of  Congress  and  may 
be  changed  or  even  dropped  at  any  session.  In  addition, 
the  appropriation  is  not  available  until  July,  the  beginning 
of  the  federal  fiscal  year,  and  so  the  work  is  held  up  until 
the  best  labor  has  gone  elsewhere  and  two  working 
months  of  an  altogether  too  short  season  are  lost.  One 
dollar  in  May  and  June  is  worth  two  in  July.  Lack  of 
knowledge  of  Alaskan  conditions  produces  legislation 
of  this  sort,  wastes  public  money,  and  holds  up  the  de- 
velopment of  the  country. 

Despite,  however,  the  problems  that  confronted  the 
commissioners  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  support  that 
would  be  given  them,  the  men  took  up  their  duties  and 
in  the  face  of  almost  overwhelming  difficulties  have  con- 
structed and  maintained  about  a  thousand  miles  of  wagon 
roads,  some  six  hundred  miles  of  winter  sled  roads  and  a 
little  more  than  two  thousand  miles  of  trails.  In  com- 
parison with  the  size  of  the  Territory  this  is  little  and 
shows  the  tremendous  need  that  still  awaits.  But  when 
one  considers  the  difficulties  faced  and  conquered,  the 
scant,  uncertain  and  ill-timed  appropriations,  it  is  much. 

The  building  of  wagon  roads  is  the  most  important  and 
most  responsible  work  of  the  commission.  Great  judg- 
ment must  be  exercised  in  their  location,  for  the  future 
must  be  considered  as  well  as  the  present.  Experience 
and  care  are  required  to  select  a  route  that  will  furnish 
a  good  roadbed  as  free  as  possible  from  landslides,  wash- 
outs, winter  storms,  long,  wet  side  hills,  and  such  acci- 
dents as  would  destroy  quickly  all  the  work  done.  Often 
these  locations  must  be  made  hastily  if  the  road  is  to  some 
new  camp,  and  the  work  finished  as  soon  as  possible,  in 
order  that  the  road  may  be  of  greatest  service  to  the 
miners  in  getting  their  machinery  and  supplies  in. 


340        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


Over  a  great  part  of  the  Territory  the  ground  from  a 
depth  of  a  foot  to  eighteen  inches  and  three  feet  is  frozen 
and  presents  many  compHcations  to  the  road  builder.  If 
the  frozen  soil  is  gravel,  the  problem  is  not  so  difficult,  for 
the  moss  or  turf  is  cleared  off  and  the  road  graded  in  the 
usual  way.  But  if  the  soil  is  clay,  it  must  be  allowed  to 
dry  out,  and  if  it  is  tundra  the  removal  of  the  surface 
covering  means,  in  a  short  time,  a  quagmire  for  horses 
and  machinery  to  flounder  and  bog  in.  In  the  tundra  sec- 
tions, it  has  been  found  wise  to  leave  the  moss  and  over 
it  put  a  pole  or  brush  corduroy  road. 

Even  when  the  ground  is  not  frozen  the  corduroy  is 
sometimes  necessary.  In  the  southeastern  parts  of  Alaska 
the  soil  in  some  places  is  a  bog.  In  fact  the  forests 
through  which  the  roads  are  built  resemble  very  much 
tropical  jungles.  The  soil  is  soft,  spongy,  a  mass  of  vege- 
tation and  timber,  and  after  the  roadway  has  been  cleared, 
brush,  poles,  and  gravel  or  heavy  soil  has  to  be  dumped 
and  graded  to  get  firm  going.  In  other  places  planking 
has  to  be  resorted  to.  The  road  up  to  Silver  Bow  Basin, 
back  of  Juneau,  is  planked  on  trestles  in  some  places  as 
there  is  no  roadbed  whatever.  All  sorts  of  conditions 
have  to  be  met  in  road  building  in  Alaska,  some  of  them 
quite  new  in  the  records  of  road  construction. 

When  the  ground  is  frozen  in  mountainous  regions, 
slides  are  of  frequent  occurrence.  Slides  from  twenty  to 
fifty  feet  wide  and  extending  up  the  hillsides  from  one 
hundred  to  two  hundred  feet  have  come  down  across  the 
road  burying  it  in  mud,  timber  and  brush  and  necessi- 
tating days  of  clearing  before  the  road  is  passable. 

Glacial  streams  are  also  to  be  contended  with  in  the 
mountains.  These  not  only  have  swift,  strong  currents 
that  undermine  and  eat  away  banks  and  bridge  supports 
but  they  constantly  change  their  channel  so  that  a  bridge 


Transportation  Problems  341 

will  be  left  high  and  dry  and  useless  and  a  new  and  un- 
fordable  stream  appear  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  a  mile  away 
over  night.  In  addition,  there  may  be  an  outburst  from 
some  unknown  glacial  lake  that  will  sweep  away  bridges 
and  roadbeds  at  a  moment's  notice.  These  glacial  lakes  are 
an  altogether  indeterminable  quantity.  They  form  in  the 
glaciers,  sometimes  in  cavities  underneath  the  ice,  and 
gradually  gather  until  their  strength  is  greater  than  that 
of  their  ice  walls,  when  they  break  through  and  rush 
down  the  moraines  at  the  glacier's  foot,  carrying  destruc- 
tion with  them.  There  seems  at  present  no  way  to  fore- 
see, forestall  or  bridle  them. 

Efforts  are  made  to  keep  the  glacial  streams  in  their 
channels.  The  best  method  devised  so  far  is  a  layer  of 
loose  brush  of  sufficient  length  to  give  the  requisite  pro- 
tection placed  on  the  threatened  bank,  perpendicular  to 
the  current,  and  weighted  with  stone  enveloped  in  gal- 
vanized wire  netting,  the  whole  being  anchored  in  place 
by  wires  extending  to  stable  supports.  For  emergency 
work,  when  the  water  is  too  high  to  permit  of  placing  the 
wire  netting  and  rock,  the  brush  is  made  into  fascines 
enclosing  sacks  of  earth  which  are  then  placed  against 
the  threatened  bank  and  wired  to  it  and  to  each  other. 

The  making  of  sled  roads  and  trails  is  not  so  difficult. 
Sled  roads  for  winter  traffic  only  are  cleared  for  a  width 
of  sixteen  feet  with  all  stumps,  hummocks  and  such 
obstacles  removed  for  a  width  of  eight  feet.  They  are 
constructed  where  the  amount  of  traffic  is  not  sufficient  to 
justify  a  wagon  road,  where  the  cost  of  building  abroad 
would  be  prohibitive,  or  where  the  communities  along  the 
route  are  amply  served  by  water  transportation  during 
the  open  season.  If  it  seems  probable  that  future  devel- 
opments may  demand  or  justify  a  wagon  road,  the  loca- 
tion is  made  as  for  a  wagon  road  in  order  that  the  work 


342        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

done  on  the  sled  may  be  of  use  when  the  improvement  is 
made.  Over  exposed  and  treeless  sections  these  winter 
trails  are  staked  for  guidance  in  storms. 

The  maintenance  of  the  roads  also  presents  some 
unique  features.  In  some  districts  when  the  snow  and  ice 
begin  to  break  up  in  the  spring,  a  steam  heating  plant  has 
to  be  used  to  keep  the  culverts  thawed  out  else  they  will 
be  destroyed.  When  the  thaw  starts,  water  runs  down  the 
slopes  and  ditches  carrying  silt  and  debris.  This  freezes 
at  night  and  does  not  thaw  out  as  quickly  in  the  morning 
as  the  snow  and  ice  on  the  surrounding  hillsides,  which 
continue  to  pour  down  their  water  to  the  clogged  culverts. 
It  soon  goes  over  the  top,  the  road  becomes  impassable 
and  the  culvert  in  danger  of  being  destroyed  unless  the  ice 
is  thawed  and  the  outlet  kept  open.  The  work  of  trans- 
porting steam  thawing  plants  over  the  roads  at  this  season 
of  the  year  gives  some  idea  of  the  difficulties  the  road 
commissioner  has  to  grapple  with. 

Another  problem  the  road  makers  often  have  to  face 
is  the  forming  of  a  small  glacier  or  ice  cap  over  culverts. 
In  some  places  the  water  will  run  in  a  small  stream  all 
winter,  freezing  from  the  bed  of  the  stream  upward  until 
ice  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  thick  is  formed  over  the  bridge. 
In  the  spring  the  ice  melts  on  the  top  and  also  on  the  sur- 
rounding hills.  Most  of  this  water  runs  under  the  ice 
block  until  it  is  suspended  on  the  culvert,  when  if  the 
weight  is  too  heavy,  the  culvert  will  fall.  These  forma- 
tions have  to  be  watched  and  the  ice  chopped.  When  it 
is  remembered  that  on  the  Fairbanks  road,  where  this 
occurrence  is  most  usual,  there  are  five  thousand  culverts, 
the  magnitude  of  this  task  can  be  glimpsed. 

As  can  be  seen,  road  building  in  Alaska  is  costly,  and 
to  secure  the  best  results  needs  adequate,  specific  and 
timely  appropriations. 


Transportation  Problems  343 

The  most  necessary  transportation  for  the  Territory, 
however,  is  railroads  with  wagon  roads  and  trails  as  feed- 
ers. And  the  most  hopeful  sign  of  better  times  coming  is 
the  building  of  the  government  railroad.  At  present  the 
biggest  thing  in  Alaska  is  not  Mt.  McKinley,  the  gold 
mines,  copper  deposits,  fisheries,  or  other  resources,  rich 
as  these  are,  but  the  government  railroad.  And  by  this  is 
not  meant  the  miles  of  trackage  or  the  cars  and  engines, 
for  compared  with  other  railroads  these  are  small,  but 
what  the  government  railroad  stands  for.  In  Alaska's 
welfare  and  future  it  looms  tremendously  big.  It  means 
development,  it  means  supplies,  it  means  other  railroads 
reaching  out  to  remote  parts  of  the  Territory.  It  means, 
in  a  word,  the  opening  up  of  this  large  and  rich  country 
to  its  fullest  capacity. 

Not  that  the  government  railroad  will  do  all  this,  for  it 
is  but  a  stretch  of  some  five  hundred  miles.  But  the  de- 
velopment that  will  begin  along  its  route  will  gradually 
spread  like  ripples  in  water  till  the  effect  reaches  the 
farthest  boundaries.  Other  railroads  will  come,  other 
cities  will  be  built,  mines  will  be  opened  in  far  distant 
places  where  it  is  impossible  now  to  work  them  profitably, 
other  industries  will  spring  up  in  consequence,  and  Alaska 
will  come  into  the  full,  rich  life  that  is  rightfully  hers. 
That  is  the  reason  the  eyes  of  all  Alaska  have  been  turned 
so  eagerly  toward  this  railroad  and  why  the  people  of  the 
Territory  have  waited  so  impatiently  its  completion. 

Congress  passed  the  bill  for  the  construction  of  rail- 
roads in  Alaska  in  March,  1914,  and  a  commission  was 
created  by  presidential  appointment  consisting  of  William 
C.  Edes,  Frederick  Mears  and  Thomas  Riggs,  Jr.  to  take 
the  work  in  hand.  An  Alaska  newspaper  writer  very 
accurately  depicted  the  task  that  confronted  these  men 
when  he  wrote  at  the  time  of  their  appointment : 


344        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

"  Imagine  a  country  possessing  more  than  twenty-six 
thousand  miles  of  seacoast  frontage  and  an  area  approxi- 
mately one-sixth  of  the  size  of  the  United  States. 

"  Imagine  it  in  point  of  population  and  exploitation  of 
resources  in  but  little  better  condition  than  the  American 
colonies  were  in  about  1650. 

"  Imagine  a  situation  in  which  you,  as  an  engineer, 
were  called  upon  to  go  into  that  portion  of  the  country 
which  would  approximate  in  size  that  portion  of  the 
United  States  extending  on  the  seacoast  from  Portland, 
Maine,  to  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  and  extending  back 
into  the  interior  to  cover  Detroit,  Cleveland,  Louisville, 
Pittsburgh,  and  West  Virginia,  for  the  purpose  of  plan- 
ning the  future  commercial,  agricultural,  and  industrial 
development,  particularly  of  the  region  named  and  poten- 
tially of  a  much  greater  region. 

"  Imagine  all  this  and  you  will  have  some  idea  of  the 
task  Uncle  Sam  has  given  the  Alaska  Engineering  Com- 
mission." 

The  commission  immediately  went  to  work  studying 
the  question  of  routes,  and  in  order  to  do  it  in  the  most 
thorough  manner,  eleven  parties  were  sent  out  to  cover 
what  was  thought  to  be  the  most  desirable  territory. 

Surveying  in  Alaska  is  not  what  it  is  in  many  parts 
of  the  country.  The  season  is  short.  All  supplies  must 
be  taken  in  on  pack  horses  as  the  boggy  condition  of  the 
country  in  many  places  precludes  the  use  of  wagons  to 
any  extent  until  roads  and  trails  are  made.  Horses  mire 
in  these  bogs  and  often  progress  is  extremely  slow. 

After  an  exhaustive  study  of  all  possible  routes  to  the 
interior,  the  one  from  Seward  to  Anchorage,  thence  along 
the  valley  of  the  Susitna  River,  through  Broad  Pass  and 
down  the  valley  of  the  Nenana  River  to  Nenana  and  Fair- 
banks was  decided  upon.     It  not  only  presented  the  least 


Transportation  Problems  345 

difficulties  of  construction  but  it  tapped  coal  lands  and 
agricultural  lands  and  would  assist  at  minimum  cost  the 
very  development  that  Alaska  needed. 

From  Seward  northward  for  a  short  distance  a  rail- 
road had  been  partially  constructed.  It  was  begun  in  1903 
under  the  name  of  the  Alaska  Central  Railroad  but  meet- 
ing with  financial  difficulties  finally  went  into  a  receiver's 
hands.  In  1910  it  was  resuscitated  under  the  name  of  the 
Alaska  Northern  Railroad  Company  and  its  construction 
again  went  forward.  The  work,  however,  languished  and 
cars  were  only  run  intermittently,  sometimes  only  a  gaso- 
line car  carrying  a  score  or  more  passengers  and  light 
express  matter  being  used.  This  road  was  purchased  by 
the  government,  thus  giving  a  terminal  at  Seward  on  the 
coast  and  a  route  through  the  Kenai  Peninsula  with  its 
rich  placer  and  quartz  prospects. 

Seward,  the  coast  port  of  the  government  railroad,  is 
picturesquely  situated  on  one  of  the  most  beautiful  har- 
bors in  the  world  with  great  snow  mountains  towering 
wherever  the  eye  looks.  The  town  is  a  substantial  and 
well-built  little  city,  busy  and  optimistic.  It  has  its  enter- 
prising daily  paper,  its  grammar  and  high  schools,  tele- 
phone exchange,  well  stocked  stores,  comfortable  hotels, 
electric  light  plant,  cable  and  wireless  stations.  The  water 
supply  comes  from  a  pure  mountain  stream  one  thousand 
feet  above  the  town.  The  name  was  given  in  honor  of 
William  H.  Seward,  who  negotiated  the  purchase  of 
Alaska.  It  seems  fitting  that  his  name  should  thus  be 
linked  with  the  greatest  possible  agent  in  the  development 
of  the  Territory. 

The  harbor  is  entirely  landlocked  and  is  guarded  at  its 
mouth  by  massive  mountains  of  rock  that  permit  a  nar- 
row passage  into  the  bay.  Mountain  ridges  rise  abruptly 
from  the  water,  and  their  snow-crowned  summits  are  re- 


346        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

fleeted  in  its  clear  surface.  It  was  this  harbor  that 
Baranof  chose  for  shipbuilding  and  here  the  first  ship 
launched  on  the  Pacific  was  constructed. 

The  Kenai  Peninsula,  through  which  the  government 
railroad  runs  northward,  is  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  long  and  one  hundred  miles  wide  and  is  suggestive 
of  Switzerland  in  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  its  scenery. 
The  mountains  rise  to  a  height  of  eight  thousand,  nine 
thousand  and  ten  thousand  feet  and  there  are  many  lakes 
and  glaciers.  It  has,  however,  some  good  agricultural 
land  slightly  timbered,  and  there  are  tracts  for  homestead- 
ing  ready  for  the  mowing  machine.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  wild  hay  that  grows  higher  than  a 
horse's  back,  and  cattle  could  profitably  be  raised  on  the 
valley  benches. 

Some  parts  of  the  Peninsula  are  underlaid  with  coal 
and  gold  is  also  found.  A  gold  bearing  quartz  lode  was 
discovered  in  1898.  In  fact,  the  first  gold  mined  in 
Alaska  was  taken  from  the  Kenai  Peninsula  and  the 
first  coal  from  any  Alaskan  field  was  secured  here  by  the 
Russians  for  the  use  of  Russian  steamers.  Convict  labor 
was  used  to  mine  it.  When  the  development  of  California 
came,  a  company  of  San  Franciscans  and  Russians  was 
formed  for  mining  the  coal,  machinery  was  shipped  and 
run  by  steam  power.  The  ruins  of  this  work  can  still  be 
seen,  and  balls  and  chains  of  the  convicts  used  in  working 
the  mines  are  still  found. 

This  part  of  Alaska  offers  many  attractions  to  pros- 
pective miners  and  settlers.  The  climate  is  mild  and  the 
rainfall  not  excessive.  Its  southern  harbors  are  free  from 
ice  throughout  the  year  and  at  all  times  available  for 
ocean  traffic.  Seward  affords  an  outlet  for  mineral  and 
other  products  whose  development  the  railroad  will  facili- 
tate.     The   auriferous   gravels   are    widely    distributed, 


Transportation  Problems  347 

though  at  present  mined  only  in  a  small  way  because  they 
carry  values  too  low  to  be  worked  by  simple  methods. 
Large  deposits  of  lignite  coal  are  accessible  and  hydro- 
electric development  quite  possible. 

From  Seward  the  government  railroad  runs  through 
pleasant  valleys,  some  grassy  and  prairielike,  others 
timbered,  with  mountain  peaks  piercing  the  sky  line.  Then 
gradually  it  begins  to  climb  and  ahead  lie  the  waters  of 
beautiful  Kenai  Lake  with  green,  wooded  shores  and 
snow  peaks  nine  thousand  and  ten  thousand  feet  high  all 
about.  Wherever  the  eye  wanders  are  glorious  visions  of 
water  and  wood  and  shining  glacier  and  craggy  peak. 
The  road  runs  along  the  shore  for  a  stretch  and  then 
swiftly  climbs  the  mountain  side  through  gorge  and  ra- 
vine, crossing  several  daring  trestles,  and  then  sweeps 
down  again  into  the  valley  of  the  Placer  River.  Here  a 
glimpse  of  Spencer  Glacier  is  caught  with  its  five-mile 
front  sparkling  blue-white  in  the  sun.  Snow  mountains 
tower  all  around.  Glaciers,  some  of  them  larger  than  any 
in  Switzerland,  waterfalls,  gorges  deep  and  rocky,  bridges 
and  tunnels,  make  the  route  one  of  surpassing  interest 
and  beauty. 

As  Turnagain  Arm  is  reached,  one  may  see,  if  the  tide 
is  coming  in,  the  great  waves,  or  "  bores  "  as  they  are 
called,  that  rush  in  here  from  ten  to  forty  feet  high  at 
times  and  which  were  the  terror  of  early  prospectors.  The 
tidal  waves  in  Turnagain  Arm  are  next  to  those  of  the 
Bay  of  Fundy  for  height  and  force.  When  the  tide  is  out, 
the  bottom  of  soft  blue  mud  is  bare. 

The  road  follows  the  curves  of  Turnagain  Arm  with 
the  water  on  one  side  and  the  canyonlike  formation  of  the 
mountains  on  the  other.  The  mountain  sides  are  tim- 
bered to  the  snow  line  with  spruce  and  hemlock  and  above 
this  green  mantle  tower  the  snow-clad  peaks. 


348        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


The  name  Turnagain  Arm  was  given  by  Captain  Cook 
when  he  was  exploring  these  waters  for  the  northeast 
passage.  When  he  first  turned  the  prow  of  his  boat  into 
the  body  of  water  that  now  bears  his  name,  he  thought  he 
had  found  the  long  sought  waterway  to  Hudson  Bay  and 
the  Atlantic.  Turnagain  Arm  was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment. 

Anchorage,  which  is  soon  reached,  is  the  headquarters 
of  the  Alaska  Engineering  Commission.  It  is  located  at 
the  mouth  of  Ship  Creek  on  a  level  stretch  and  is  a  thriv- 
ing town  of  pretty  homes,  hotels,  banks,  stores  of  many 
kinds  and  government  shops.  It  has  a  water  system, 
sewer  system,  graded  streets  (many  with  concrete  side- 
walks), an  electric  lighting  system,  telephones,  a  well 
equipped  sanitation  department,  a  garbage  disposal  sys- 
tem and  a  fire  department.  Its  principal  business  thor- 
oughfare is  a  mile  long  and  has  twelve-foot  concrete 
sidewalks  on  both  sides  through  the  greater  portion  of 
the  town. 

The  public  school  is  one  of  the  finest  in  Alaska.  The 
building  is  three  stories  in  height  and  has  all  modern  im- 
provements, including  steam  heat,  electric  light,  water  and 
sewer  systems,  together  with  school  equipment  of  the 
latest  sort.  The  primary  and  grammar  departments  are 
carefully  graded  and  the  high  school  course  embraces 
the  subjects  taught  in  the  accredited  high  schools  of  the 
States.  A  night  school  is  also  part  of  the  work  of  the 
school  system  and  is  provided  for  the  purpose  of  offering 
to  adults  an  opportunity  for  acquiring  such  knowledge  as 
they  may  desire.  In  addition  to  the  common  branches  of 
study,  stenography,  typewriting,  bookkeeping,  public 
speaking,  French,  Spanish,  mineralogy,  geology  and  other 
subjects  are  taught  by  qualified  teachers  at  the  night  ses- 
sions.    The  school  has  a  library  containing  more  than  a 


Transportation  Problems  349 

thousand  reference  books.  Text-books  and  supplies  are 
furnished  free  to  all  students. 

The  town  has  many  fraternal  organizations,  a  Farmers' 
Association,  a  Fair  Association,  an  energetic  Woman's 
Club.  There  are  theatres,  a  recreation  park  and  many 
other  facilities  for  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  life. 

The  harbor  needs  some  dredging  to  permit  ships  to 
load  and  unload  at  the  docks.  But  when  this  is  done,  it 
will  make  an  excellent  shipping  point  especially  for  coal, 
as  it  is  free  from  ice  eight  months  in  the  year. 

From  Anchorage  the  road  skirts  Knik  Arm,  another 
branch  of  Cook  Inlet,  the  water  on  one  side,  the  moun- 
tains on  the  other,  giving  glorious  views  whichever  way 
one  looks,  until  Matanuska  Junction  is  reached,  where  a 
branch  road  runs  to  the  Matanuska  coal  fields. 

From  Matanuska  Junction  the  road  strikes  west  and 
then  north  along  the  Susitna  River,  and  here  the  most 
magnificent  scenery  of  all  begins,  for  though  this  route 
was  selected  for  its  practical  features,  it  passes  through 
some  of  the  finest  scenery  in  Alaska.  On  both  sides  of 
the  railroad  line  the  snow-capped  peaks  of  the  great 
Alaskan  range  tower,  Mt.  McKinley  dominating  them  all. 
It  is  a  vast  region  of  great  mountains,  beautiful  valleys, 
gleaming  rivers,  spruce  forests,  and  lovely  wild  flowers,  a 
region  overpoweringly  impressive  in  the  richness  of  its 
ojfferings,  whether  these  be  the  unrivalled  scenic  beauty  of 
the  great  range  of  snow  peaks  with  Mt.  McKinley  twenty 
thousand,  three  hundred  feet  high,  Mt.  Foraker,  seven- 
teen thousand  feet,  and  others  almost  equalling  these  in 
altitude,  the  valleys  opening  on  all  sides  knee  deep  in  rich 
grasses  and  suggesting  the  agricultural  possibilities  of  this 
region,  the  streams  with  their  leaping  fish  or  the  forests 
with  their  abundant  animal  life. 

The  Mt.  McKinley  National  Park  lies  in  this  section, 


350        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

though  the  actual  entrance  to  the  Park  is  some  few  miles 
distant  from  the  railroad.  But  there  is  a  station  on  the 
railroad  for  the  park,  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
each  summer  will  see  many  tourists  arriving  at  this  point 
for  a  holiday  outing  in  one  of  the  most  impressively 
beautiful  places  in  the  world. 

The  Park  comprises  an  area  of  twenty-two  hundred 
square  miles.  Its  longest  dimension  follows  the  general 
course  of  the  Alaska  range  from  Mt.  Russell,  eleven  thou- 
sand, five  hundred  feet  high,  northward  and  includes  the 
main  ranges  of  this  mountain  chain  that  is  one  of  the 
most  prominent  on  the  continent.  This  chain  is  higher 
and  broader  than  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  of  greater  relief 
and  extent  than  the  Alps.  In  this  section  that  sweeps 
through  the  park  are  a  multitude  of  peaks,  nine  thousand, 
ten  thousand,  twelve  thousand,  fifteen  thousand  feet  high, 
and  on  up  to  the  monarch  of  all,  Mt.  McKinley,  twenty 
thousand,  three  hundred  feet.  Much  of  the  impressive- 
ness  is  due  to  the  fact  that  these  mountains,  especially  Mt. 
McKinley,  rise  from  a  low  tundra  shelf  and  not  from  a 
high  plateau  as  is  usually  the  case  and  which  detracts  from 
the  effect  of  height.  No  other  known  peak  rises  so  high 
as  Mt.  McKinley  over  its  own  base,  and  it  is  this  that 
gives  the  effect  of  such  stupendous  height  and  grandeur. 

But  though  Mt.  McKinley  gives  the  dominating  note, 
the  whole  park  is  a  place  of  wondrous  beauty  and  interest. 
There  are  valleys  rich  in  grass  and  wild  flowers.  Spruce, 
birch,  and  cottonwood  lend  their  loveliness  of  green. 
Waterfalls  and  mountain  streams  give  the  flash  and  move- 
ment of  water.  Great  glaciers  sweep  down  the  mountain 
sides.  Muldrow  Glacier,  named  for  Robert  Muldrow  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  is  thirty-five  miles 
long  and  as  glaciers  go,  accessible.  When  it  is  considered 
that  the  largest  glacier  of  the  Swiss  Alps  is  only  sixteen 


Transportation  Problems  351 

miles  long,  some  idea  of  the  stupendous  scale  upon  which 
the  scenic  l)eauty  of  this  park  is  built  can  be  gained.  To 
add  to  the  loveliness,  great  lava  flows  are  to  be  found  here 
and  there,  giving  vivid  patches  of  red,  purple,  brown  and 
green. 

In  addition,  the  park  is  a  great  game  preserve.  Moose 
are  plentiful.  The  white  bighorn  mountain  sheep  rove  it 
in  bands,  as  many  as  three  hundred  having  been  counted 
in  a  day.  More  than  a  thousand  caribou  have  been  seen 
at  one  time  by  surveying  parties  or  prospectors.  The 
black,  brown  and  grizzly  bear  are  to  be  found  here,  and 
smaller  animals,  especially  foxes  and  beaver,  are  in 
abundance.  With  the  exception  of  one  region  in  Africa, 
no  other  region  in  the  world  it  is  said  by  those  who  have 
made  a  study  of  the  subject,  is  the  home  of  so  much  big 
game. 

And  yet  all  this  unequalled  beauty,  outdoor  living  of  the 
most  pleasurable  kind,  and  mountain  climbing  of  a  rare 
order,  for  nowhere  else  in  the  world  are  there  such  high 
climbs  above  snow  line,  is  comparatively  easily  accessible. 
A  comfortable  water  trip  through  wondrously  beautiful 
scenery,  a  railroad  journey  of  fairly  brief  duration,  and 
even  the  most  modestly  equipped  traveller  finds  the  won- 
ders and  beauties  of  the  park  his  to  enjoy  as  long  as  he 
will.^ 

The  immense  height  of  Mt.  McKinley  impressed  the 
Indians.  It  was  used  as  a  landmark  in  their  journeys,  and 
stories  about  it  were  woven  into  their  folk  lore.  By  them 
it  was  called  Denali,  the  Most  High.  It  is  claimed  by 
some  that  this  name  should  be  retained  as  it  is  both  beauti- 
ful and  significant.    Archdeacon  Hudson  Stuck,  who  was 

^  At  this  writing  (1918)  the  railroad  is  not  yet  finished 
but  it  is  hoped  by  those  in  charge  that  a  short  time  will  see 
it  completed. 


352        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

the  first  to  climb  the  mountain,  appUes  this  name  to  it 
exclusively,  and  Dr.  George  Byron  Gordon,  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  who  made  an  expedition  to  this 
section  for  purposes  of  ethnological  research,  in  a  book 
which  he  has  brought  out  says,  "  There  is  no  obvious 
sense  of  fitness  to  reconcile  one  to  the  association  of  ex- 
President  McKinley  with  a  natural  feature  of  the  Alas- 
kan landscape.  I  am  going  to  persist  in  using  the  name 
Denali  like  the  savages  who  have  some  priority  in  the 
matter  and  who  have  their  own  fancy  for  names.  The 
builders  of  the  man-made  town  have  an  unquestioned 
right  to  call  it  what  they  will,  but  the  mountains  are  not 
man-made,  and  having  seen  this  masterpiece  of  His  handi- 
work, I  have  not  the  will  to  remove  therefrom  the  name 
of  the  Most  High." 

Among  the  early  explorers  little  was  known  of  the 
mountain.  Vancouver  speaks  of  "  distant  stupendous 
snow  mountains  covered  with  snow  and  apparently  de- 
tached from  each  other."  Vague  as  this  is  it  is  the  first 
mention  made  even  of  the  range  in  the  reports  of  the  early 
explorers.  The  Russians  evidently  knew  of  it  for  they 
spoke  of  a  "  Bulshaia  Gora,"  or  Big  Mountain,  but  no 
definite  reference  to  it  as  a  great  peak  is  in  their  records. 
William  Dall,  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  staff, 
made  mention  of  the  mountain  chain  and  gave  it  the 
name  Alaskan  Range. 

Arthur  Harper  and  Alfred  Mayo,  the  traders  of  the 
Yukon,  went  three  hundred  miles  up  the  Tanana  River  on 
one  of  their  exploring  expeditions,  the  first  white  men  to 
ascend  this  river,  and  reported  finding  gold  on  the  river 
bars  and  also  the  sight  of  an  enormous  snow  mountain. 

Frank  Dcnsmorc  saw  it  and  was  so  enthusiastic  in  his 
description  that  the  mountain  was  known  for  many  years 
as  Densmore's  Mountain.    Other  prospectors  also  told  of 


Transportation  Problems  353 

a  great  peak  looming  cloudlike  in  the  sky.  But  it  was  not 
until  1896,  when  W.  A.  Dickey,  a  graduate  of  an  eastern 
college,  went  through  here,  saw  the  mountain  and  stated 
its  height  to  be  about  twenty  thousand  feet,  that  it  re- 
ceived the  name  of  Mt.  McKinley.  He  wrote  an  article 
to  the  New  York  Sun  about  it,  but  the  world  at  large 
paid  little  attention  to  his  report  for  it  was  classed  as 
only  another  of  the  wild  tales  which  emanated  from 
Alaska.  But  another  discovery  about  the  same  time  as 
the  publication  of  his  article,  that  of  the  Klondike  gold, 
altered  the  status  of  Alaska  in  the  public  mind.  The  gov- 
ernment began  to  realize  its  long  neglect  of  this  vast 
possession.  Money  was  appropriated  for  its  development. 
The  United  States  Geological  Survey  began  a  series  of 
explorations  and  surveys  that  brought  definite,  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  Territory. 

Of  the  government  surveying  parties  sent  to  Alaska  in 
1898,  one  made  the  first  determination  of  the  height  and 
position  of  Mount  McKinley.  By  a  rough  triangulation, 
Dickey's  remarkably  accurate  estimate  of  the  height  of 
Mt.  McKinley  was  verified.  It  was  only  after  the  publica- 
tion of  the  results  of  this  survey  that  Dickey  received  any 
adequate  recognition  from  the  public  for  his  important 
contribution  to  geographic  knowledge. 

With  the  mountain  definitely  located  and  its  height 
ascertained,  came  the  ambition  to  climb  it.  Judge  Wick- 
ersham  of  Fairbanks,  and  at  that  time  Judge  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Alaska,  made  the  first  attempt.  In  1903,  with 
four  others,  he  left  Fairbanks  and  undertook  the  climb 
from  the  impossible  north  side.  The  party  reached  an 
altitude  of  about  ten  thousand  feet  but  were  compelled  to 
return. 

About  the  same  time  Dr.  Frederick  A.  Cook  made  the 
attempt  but  came  to  the  same  barrier  that  stopped  Judge 


354        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


Wickersham.  Three  years  later,  accompanied  by  Pro- 
fessor Herschel  Parker  and  Mr.  Belmore  Browne,  he 
made  another  attempt,  but  did  not  get  across  the  Range. 
With  one  companion  Cook  came  back  by  another  route 
late  in  August  and  claims  that  he  climbed  it.  This  con- 
troversy is  too  well  known  to  comment  upon. 

In  1910,  Thomas  Lloyd,  Charles  McGonogill,  William 
Taylor,  Peter  Anderson  and  Bob  Home,  prospectors  and 
miners,  and  E.  C.  Davidson,  a  surveyor,  set  out  from 
Fairbanks  to  make  the  ascent.  Davidson  and  Home 
eventually  left  the  party  but  the  others  continued.  This 
expedition  was  the  first  to  discover  the  only  route  so  far 
found  by  which  the  mountain  can  be  climbed.  Lloyd, 
while  hunting  mountain  sheep  in  previous  seasons,  had 
discovered  the  key  to  the  labyrinth  in  Muldrow  Glacier. 
Two  of  the  party  reached  the  top  of  the  north  peak  and 
planted  a  flagstaff  there.  With  nothing  but  climbing  irons 
strapped  to  their  moccasins  and  poles  in  their  hands  and 
without  ropes  they  made  the  last  stretch  of  the  ascent. 

Later  in  the  summer  of  1910,  Professor  Parker  and 
Mr.  Belmore  Browne,  members  of  the  second  Cook  party, 
made  another  attempt  but  tried  from  the  inaccessible  side 
and  the  effort  failed.  In  1912  they  organized  another  ex- 
pedition. This  time  they  had  the  information  about  the 
Muldrow  Glacier  route.  Delays  and  then  blizzards  and 
the  exhaustion  of  their  food  supplies  compelled  them  to 
give  up  the  attempt  after  they  had  reached  a  height  of 
some  seventeen  thousand  feet  for  their  final  camp  and 
from  this  had  come  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  the  top. 
From  their  high  base  camp  of  seventeen  thousand  feet 
several  attempts  were  made  for  the  top  but  blizzards  and 
storms  prevented  their  reaching  it  and  finally  they  had  to 
break  camp  and  leave  without  accomplishing  their  pur- 
pose. 


Transportation  Problems  355 

The  mountain  was  at  last  climbed  by  Hudson  Stuck, 
archdeacon  of  the  Yukon,  and  three  companions,  Mr. 
Harry  P.  Karstens,  Mr.  Robert  G.  Tatum,  and  a  half- 
breed  boy,  Mr.  Walter  Harper.  Harper  was  the  first  to 
reach  the  summit  and  thus  a  native  Alaskan  was  "  the 
first  human  being  to  set  foot  on  the  top  of  Alaska's  great 
mountain,"  says  Dr.  Stuck  in  his  most  interesting  account 
of  the  conquest  of  the  peak.  The  ascent  was  accomplished 
June  7,  1913.  Archdeacon  Stuck  gives  a  most  delightful 
description  of  the  climb  in  a  book  published  the  following 
year. 

Beyond  the  Mt.  McKinley  Park  station,  the  railroad 
continues  to  Broad  Pass.  This  is  a  wide,  valleylike  open- 
ing between  the  mountains,  evidently  the  path  of  an  old 
glacier.  Here  the  range  is  crossed  and  the  route  winds 
down  across  rivers  and  through  country  dotted  with  lakes 
to  the  Nenana  River  section.  In  some  places  the  road  has 
been  cut  in  the  solid  rock  and  canyons  and  narrow  gorges 
lend  a  wildness  and  picturesqueness  that  enchants  and 
thrills. 

Soon  the  Nenana  coal  fields  are  reached,  a  section  not 
so  interesting  perhaps  to  the  tourist  but  of  supreme  im- 
portance to  Alaskans  for  it  is  this  coal  that  will  be  of  in- 
valuable help  in  developing  interior  Alaska.  At  Nenana 
the  Tanana  River  is  crossed  and  thence  the  line  runs  over 
the  route  of  the  Tanana  Valley  Railroad  through  gentle 
hills  and  poplar  and  willow  thickets  to  Fairbanks. 

As  Alaska  becomes  better  known  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  great  tourist  trips  of  this  country  will  be  over  this 
railroad  from  Seward  to  Fairbanks  and  then  out  by  the 
auto  road  to  the  coast  or  vice  versa.  It  is  doubtful  if  such 
a  trip  can  be  equalled  elsewhere  in  the  world  for  mag- 
nificent scenery  and  varied  interests. 

There  are  but  few  other  railroads  in  the  Territory.   Of 


356        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

these  the  Copper  River  and  Northwestern  may  be  said  to 
be  the  most  important,  because  the  White  Pass  road, 
though  a  means  of  transportation  for  freight  and  passen- 
gers to  Alaska,  is  not  in  American  territory  except  for  a 
short  distance. 

The  Copper  River  and  Northwestern  Railroad  extends 
from  Cordova  to  Kennicott,  a  distance  of  about  one 
hundred  and  ninety-six  miles.  It  was  built  entirely  in  the 
interests  of  the  copper  mining  industry  of  the  Copper 
River  Valley  and  though  it  traverses  a  magnificent  section 
of  the  country  scenically  and  is  used  by  tourists,  its  main 
business  is  the  transporting  of  copper  ore  from  the  mines 
to  tidewater  at  Cordova.  It  was  completed  in  1911  at  a 
cost  of  $20,000,000.  When  the  project  of  building  the 
road  was  first  broached  many  engineers  said  it  could  not 
be  done.  But  they  did  not  reckon  with  the  Alaskan  spirit. 
The  road  was  needed.  That  was  enough.  Mr.  E.  C. 
Hawkins,  the  engineer  of  the  White  Pass  road,  was  placed 
in  charge,  with  Mr.  J.  L.  McPherson,  now  secretary  and 
manager  of  the  Alaska  Bureau  of  the  Seattle  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  as  one  of  his  able  assistants  and  the  work  was 
begun. 

Without  doubt  the  task  that  confronted  these  men  was 
one  of  the  most  difiicult  engineering  problems  in  America. 
The  route  lay  through  one  of  the  most  rugged  mountain 
regions  of  the  continent,  with  glaciers,  glacial  streams, 
deep  canyons,  one  of  them  being  three  hundred  feet  high, 
and  swift  rapids,  to  be  conquered.  In  the  bridge  building 
alone  were  problems  such  as  had  never  before  been  pre- 
sented. The  delta  of  the  Copper  River  offered  difficulties 
at  the  very  outset,  for  there  is  almost  no  ground  here  for 
construction  camps  and  only  green  alders  and  willows  for 
fuel.  But  the  men  were  not  deterred.  Camps  were  made 
somehow,  surveying  went  forward  even  at  a  temperature 


Transportation  Problems  357 

of  fifty  below,  supplies  were  pushed  up  the  river  even 
though  it  took  six  months  to  get  material  from  Cordova 
only  to  the  glacial  region. 

While  the  famous  bridge  across  the  river  between  the 
Miles  and  Childs  Glaciers  that  alone  cost  a  million  and  a 
half  dollars  was  being  built,  the  work  on  the  road  beyond 
was  going  forward.  For  this  construction,  men,  machin- 
ery and  supplies  had  to  be  ferried  across  the  river.  Al- 
though the  boat  for  this  work  had  been  especially  built 
and  was  reinforced  with  steel,  so  terrific  were  the  ice-laden 
waves  caused  by  the  fall  of  bergs  in  the  river  from  the 
glaciers  that  often  it  would  have  to  tie  up  to  the  bank 
and  make  repairs  before  it  could  continue  its  task  of 
taking  rails,  spikes,  ties,  engines  and  such  things  that  the 
railroad  builders  needed. 

~  At  one  time  a  glacial  lake  in  Miles  Glacier  broke  and 
the  water  and  ice  flooded  twenty  miles  of  track  that  had 
been  completed,  tearing  out  the  trestles,  washing  out  the 
embankment  and  generally  destroying  the  work  that  had 
been  at  such  effort  finished.  A  mountain  slide  in  Aber- 
crombie  Canyon  buried  the  track  at  another  time  and  cut 
off  all  communication  with  the  workers  beyond. 

The  construction  material  had  to  be  taken  forward  in 
all  sorts  of  fashions.  In  some  places  it  had  to  be  towed 
up  the  river,  which  has  a  deep,  swift,  ice-cold  current,  by 
the  men  who  had  to  push  their  way  through  tangled  Cot- 
tonwood thickets,  and  these  thickets  need  to  be  seen  to 
realize  their  density,  while  others  of  the  crew  had  to  wade 
in  the  water  to  keep  the  boat  off  the  rocks.  At  other 
places,  especially  in  the  winter,  it  was  sledded  forward. 
But  this  was  not  so  easy  as  it  sounds,  for  the  ice  on  the 
river  was  piled  in  barriers  and  at  other  places  filled  with 
dangerous  pot  holes.  This  work  of  getting  in  the  ma- 
chinery and  supplies  was  so  especially  difficult  because 


358        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

there  was  little  good  roadway.  The  river  ran  most  of  the 
proposed  route  between  sheer  rock  walls  and  glaciers. 
The  current  in  many  places  is  swift  and  dangerous  and 
boils  over  great  rocks,  making  rapids  far  more  perilous 
than  the  White  Horse  Rapids.  Much  of  the  roadbed  has 
been  blasted  from  the  rocky  cliffs,  but  before  this  blasting 
was  done  there  was  no  roadway  for  getting  in  supplies. 
Some  of  this  rock  work  cost  $200,000  a  mile.  At  one 
place  one  thousand  kegs  of  black  powder  and  thirty-five 
cases  of  Number  One  dynamite  were  used  to  move  twelve 
thousand  cubic  yards  of  rock. 

But  the  building  of  the  eleven  hundred  and  fifty  foot 
bridge  across  the  river  between  Miles  and  Childs  Glaciers 
was  the  greatest  feat  of  the  whole  engineering  problem. 
Millions  had  to  be  risked  on  the  chance  that  the  bridge 
would  hold,  for  if  this  bridge  could  not  be  accomplished 
the  rest  of  the  road  was  valueless. 

Within  one  hour  of  the  time  the  last  piece  of  bridge 
steel  was  delivered  on  the  bank,  the  first  girder  was  in 
place.  In  ten  and  a  half  days  the  first  span,  four  hundred 
feet  long,  was  completed;  in  six  days  the  second  span, 
three  hundred  feet  long,  was  finished,  and  in  ten  days  the 
third,  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long. 

The  temporary  foundation  of  this  third  span  was  thou- 
sands of  piles  driven  deep  into  the  bottom  of  Copper 
River.  The  ice  was  a  solid  sheet  seven  feet  thick.  In  this 
the  piles  were  solidly  frozen.  Before  the  work  was  com- 
pleted, the  spring  thaw  set  in  and  the  ice  cap  lifted  twenty 
feet  and  began  to  move.  Something  had  to  be  done,  and 
that  quickly,  or  the  whole  structure  would  be  wrecked.  The 
men  within  reach  were  called  to  the  scene,  the  steam  from 
every  stationary  engine  driven  into  small  feed  pipes  and 
every  man  set  to  the  task  of  steam  melting  or  chopping  the 
ice  clear  of  the  pilings.    Day  and  night  the  holes  were  kept 


Transportation  Problems  359 

open  but  despite  all  efforts  the  span  began  to  move. 
Anchorages  were  then  made,  block  and  tackle  rigged,  and 
while  the  melting  and  chopping  went  on,  the  four  hundred 
and  fifty  foot  span  which  was  gradually  being  carried 
away  was  dragged  back  inch  by  inch,  bolted  and  riveted 
and  the  bridge  saved. 

To  protect  the  bridge  from  the  ice  a  row  of  eighty- 
pound  rails  one  foot  apart  are  placed  around  each  pier 
and  a  kind  of  false  piers  or  current  breakers  are  also  built 
near. 

Commercially,  the  road  is  valuable,  for  it  makes  avail- 
able some  of  the  world's  richest  deposits  of  copper.  But 
it  is  also  valuable  as  a  wonderful  feat  of  engineering  that 
demonstrates  the  ability  of  man  to  conquer  the  seemingly 
unconquerable. 

The  other  railroads  in  Alaska  are  negligible.  In  the 
earlier  days  some  railroads  were  built  in  the  Seward 
Peninsula  from  Nome  to  Sheldon,  a  distance  of  about 
eighty  miles,  and  from  Council  City  to  near-by  creeks. 
But  these  roads  have  been  abandoned.  The  Alaska 
Anthracite  Railroad  has  been  completed  from  tidewater 
on  Bering  River,  which  flows  into  Controller  Bay,  to  the 
Bering  coal  fields,  a  distance  of  twenty-two  miles.  It  is 
planned  shortly  to  extend  this  road  to  deep  water  on 
Okalee  Channel,  an  additional  distance  of  eight  miles. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  NATIVES  AND  THEIR  EDUCATION 

The  Indian  tribes  of  Alaska.  The  early  Russian  mis- 
sionaries. Mission  work  after  the  purchase.  The  mis- 
sions OF  to-day.  The  work  of  the  Bureau  of  Education. 
Native  schools.  Cooperative  stores.  The  reindeer  in- 
dustry.   Reindeer  fairs.    Plans  for  the  future. 

One  of  the  most  important  problems  that  confronted 
the  United  States  government  when  it  took  over  Alaska 
was  the  care  of  the  native  population,  though  in  the 
beginning  there  was  little  recognition  of  this  responsibil- 
ity. The  first  result  of  the  change  of  ownership  was  for 
the  native  undoubtedly  harmful.  Intoxicating  liquors 
were  taken  among  them  without  restriction.  William 
Dall  shortly  after  the  purchase  relates,  "  I  saw  a  small 
schooner  lying  in  the  bay.  I  made  out  one  white  man  on 
it  and  the  round  sides  of  two  barrels  rose  conspicuously 
above  the  gunwales.  I  felt  sick  as  I  sat  down,  knowing 
that  the  cargo  must  consist  of  rum  and  seeing  already  the 
beginning  of  evils  whose  future  growth  none  could  esti- 
mate." The  morality  of  many  of  the  first  settlers  and 
traders  was  not  of  a  high  order  and  by  association,  habits 
2nd  vices  were  fixed  upon  the  Indians  that  resulted  in 
their  gradual  deterioration. 

The  natives  of  Alaska  belong  to  several  distinct  tribes. 
Along  the  Arctic  Ocean,  Bering  Sea,  and  the  western 
coast  are  the  Eskimos  or  Innuits.  The  Eskimos  speak  of 
themselves  as  Innuits.  The  word  Eskimo  means  fish 
eater  and  is  a  term  applied  by  the  Indians  of  the  interior 

360 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        361 

to  those  of  the  coast  and  is  dishked  by  the  Innuits.  Some 
claim  that  the  Aleutians  are  an  offshoot  of  the  Eskimo. 
Others  maintain  that  they  are  a  distinct  tribe.  In  the 
interior  are  the  Athabascans.  To  these  is  applied  the 
general  name  Indian.  They  are  supposed  to  belong  to 
the  tribes  of  the  north  central  part  of  the  continent  and  to 
have  migrated  westward  from  the  Mackenzie  and  Atha- 
bascan regions.  Along  the  southeastern  shore  are  the 
coast  Indians,  of  which  there  are  three  principal  tribes, 
the  Hydahs  or  Haidas,  the  Thlinkets,  and  the  Tsimp- 
sians. 

Ethnologically  there  are  many  more  divisions  and  sub- 
divisions and  ethnologists  are  scarcely  agreed  among 
themselves  as  to  the  origin  of  the  tribes  to  be  found  in 
Alaska.  But  popularly  these  four  distinctions  have  been 
made  because  the  natives  easily  fall  into  these  groups  by 
reason  of  geographical  distribution  and  distinctive  char- 
acteristics. 

It  is  not  difficult  for  almost  any  one  to  distinguish 
between  an  Eskimo  and  an  Indian  of  the  interior,  or  be- 
tween an  Aleut  and  a  native  of  the  southeastern  part. 
There  is  a  difference  in  stature,  a  difference  in  facial 
characteristics,  a  difference  in  mentality,  due  in  large 
part  to  different  methods  of  living  and  difference  in  food. 
The  Indians  of  the  southeastern  part  and  of  the  interior 
pursue  their  occupations  mostly  on  land  and  among  moun- 
tains and  forests,  whereas  the  Eskimos  and  Aleuts  live 
mostly  on  the  water.  The  active  life  of  the  former  over 
mountains  and  through  forests  in  the  pursuit  of  game 
breeds  a  different  physique  from  that  which  comes  sitting 
in  boats  fishing  and  living  principally  on  fish.  Some 
ethnologists,  however,  believe  that  the  stature  and  appear- 
ance of  the  Eskimo  are  due  to  the  admixture  of  Oriental 
blood.     It  is  a  question  upon  which  there  is  much  divi- 


362        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

sion  of  opinion,  but  the  fact  of  at  least  several  distinct 
tribes  in  Alaska  is  generally  accepted. 

The  Aleuts  were  the  first  to  come  under  the  domination 
of  foreigners,  for  it  was  the  islands  to  the  westward  that 
were  earliest  discovered  and  settled  by  the  Russians. 
They  were  a  gentle,  kindly  natured  people  given  to  dances 
and  festivities  and  good  to  each  other.  It  is  said  that 
the  hunters  always  divided  their  spoils  with  the  aged, 
infirm,  and  those  incapacitated  for  hunting. 

After  the  various  brutal  attacks  of  the  Russians,  the 
Aleuts  attempted  occasionally  to  defend  themselves,  but 
with  little  success,  for  they  had  nothing  but  their  darts 
and  arrows  with  which  to  oppose  the  firearms  of  their 
invaders.  Soon  they  sank  into  a  state  of  practical  slav- 
ery. They  were  compelled  to  hunt  the  sea  otter  by  their 
conquerors.  They  were  sent  on  long  voyages  in  their 
skin  boats  and  many  were  drowned.  The}^  were  ruth- 
lessly murdered.  It  is  said  that  for  a  hundred  years  the 
cruelties  committed  by  the  first  Russians  were  recounted 
by  the  sad,  poverty-stricken  descendants  of  the  once 
happy,  prosperous  Aleuts. 

The  Eskimos  are  the  same  gentle,  kindly,  smiling  peo- 
ple. Being  farther  to  the  north,  they  escaped  the  on- 
slaughts of  the  early  Russians,  though  later  they  suffered 
in  other  ways  from  the  traders  of  other  nations.  But 
as  a  race  they  are  to-day  in  a  far  better  condition  than 
their  brothers,  the  Aleuts. 

Both  are  industrious,  and  skilful  and  artistic  in  the 
execution  of  their  handwork.  The  Eskimos  are  always 
working,  either  carving  ivory,  working  on  skins  or  furs, 
whittling  bows  and  arrows  with  which  they  are  very 
skilful  in  killing  ptarmigan.  Their  boats  are  models  of 
lightness,  grace  and  careful  workmanship.  The  kind 
holding  two  or  more  is  called  by  them  oomiak  and  by  the 


A     NATIVE    ALASKAN     INDIAN 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        363 

Russians  bidarra;  the  style  in  which  the  skin  covering 
is  brought  up  over  the  top  so  as  to  leave  an  opening  for 
only  one  occupant  is  called  kyak  by  the  Indians,  bidarka 
by  the  Russians.  The  similarity  of  the  Russian  names 
has  been  confusing  to  many. 

With  no  weapons  but  spears,  sometimes  tipped  with 
ivory,  these  natives  of  the  northern  and  western  part  of 
Alaska  killed  whales  and  sea  otter.  They  caught  fish 
with  improvised  hooks  of  ivory.  They  improvised  lamps 
by  hollowing  out  stones.  They  were  not  without  artistic 
ability.  They  arranged  feathers  in  their  wearing  apparel 
with  an  eye  to  color  and  design.  And  to-day  the  carved 
ivories  of  the  Eskimos  are  quaint,  full  of  character  and 
vigor,  and  the  baskets  of  the  natives  of  Attn  are  counted 
among  the  most  beautiful  of  Indian  basketry. 

The  Indians  of  southeastern  Alaska  were  much  fiercer 
and  more  cruel.  Tales  of  cannibalism  are  told  of  them. 
Prisoners  taken  in  their  tribal  wars  were  made  slaves, 
and  often  at  feasts  and  dances  these  slaves  were  killed  as 
part  of  the  ceremonies.  It  was  no  unusual  thing  when 
a  house  raising  took  place  for  the  body  of  a  slave  that 
had  just  been  killed  to  be  laid  at  each  corner  and  the 
posts  of  the  building  to  be  placed  upon  it. 

The  captain  of  an  American  vessel  trading  in  these 
waters  in  the  early  days  says  of  these  natives,  "  A  more 
hideous  set  of  beings  in  the  form  of  men  and  women 
1  never  saw.  The  fantastic  manner  in  which  many  of 
the  faces  of  the  men  are  painted  is  intended  probably  to 
give  them  a  ferocious  appearance.  Some  groups  look  as 
if  they  had  escaped  from  the  dominions  of  Satan  him- 
self. One  had  a  perpendicular  line  dividing  the  two  sides 
of  his  face,  one  side  of  which  was  painted  red,  the  other 
black,  with  the  hair  daubed  with  grease  and  red  ochre 
and  filled  with  down  of  birds.     Another  had  the  face 


364        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

painted  with  horizontal  lines  in  the  middle  and  painted 
black  and  white.  The  visage  of  a  third  was  painted  in 
checkers." 

But  with  these  cruel  and  treacherous  characteristics 
and  love  of  the  grotesque  went  a  greater  amount  of  in- 
telhgence  and  skill  than  the  other  natives  possessed. 
Their  boats,  their  beadwork,  and  their  carving  showed 
ability  of  an  unusual  order,  and  to-day  the  Indians  of  this 
section  are  among  the  most  progressive  of  the  natives  of 
Alaska. 

The  Indians  of  the  interior  were  more  forceful  than 
the  Aleuts  and  less  cruel  than  those  of  the  coast.  In  the 
main,  they  were  kindly,  though  at  times,  driven  by  the 
brutalities  and  aggression  of  the  Russians  as  they  estab- 
lished their  trading  posts  farther  and  farther  up  the 
Yukon,  they  retaliated,  as  shown  by  the  massacres  at 
Nulato  and  Andreafski,  But  these  occurrences  were 
rare. 

Some  educational  and  religious  work  for  the  natives 
had  been  done  prior  to  the  purchase.  Shelikof  estab- 
lished a  school  in  1785  and  as  soon  as  the  Russian  colonies 
were  on  a  stable  basis  missionaries  were  asked  for  and 
sent.  One  of  the  earliest  of  these  was  Father  Juvenal, 
a  man  undoubtedly  of  high  ideals,  earnest  and  conscien- 
tious in  his  beliefs,  but  weak  in  practice.  He  suffered 
many  hardships  and  was  finally  killed  by  the  natives,  but 
religiously  he  left  little  impression  upon  those  among 
whom  he  worked.  In  his  "  Journal  "  he  gives  graphic 
pictures  of  his  work,  his  experiences  and  his  environment. 
Writing  from  Three  Saints  Harbor  in  1796,  he  says, 
"  With  the  help  of  God  a  school  was  opened  at  this  place 
to-day,  the  first  since  the  attempt  of  the  late  Mr.  Shelikof 
to  instruct  the  natives  of  this  neighborhood."  Describ- 
ing a  service  which  he  held  he  says,  "  We  had  fine  singing 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        365 

and  a  congregation  with  a  great  outward  show  of  devo- 
tion. I  could  not  help  but  marvel  at  Alexander  Alex- 
andrevitch  (Baranof),  who  stood  there  and  listened  and 
crossed  himself,  gave  the  responses  at  the  proper  time 
and  joined  in  the  singing  with  the  same  hoarse  voice 
with  which  he  was  shouting  drunken  songs  the  night 
before  when  I  saw  him  in  the  midst  of  a  carousal."  His 
description  of  a  visit  to  the  mainland  shows  some  of  the 
hardships  endured.  The  cabin  being  taken  by  Baranof, 
he  was  shown  to  a  small  place  in  the  hold  between  some 
bales  of  goods  and  some  dried  fish.  In  this  dark  and 
smelly  place,  with  the  light  of  a  wretched  lantern,  he 
wrote  his  "  Journal,"  "  unable  to  partake  of  food  and 
buried  under  a  heap  of  dried  fish  whenever  the  boat 
rolled."  His  description  of  a  visit  to  Baranof  is  a  true 
self-revelation.  "  I  found  him  seated  in  front  of  a  tent 
while  a  servant  prepared  tea.  He  did  not  ask  me  to  be 
seated  or  to  partake  of  tea,  though  it  was  nearly  a  year 
since  I  had  tasted  any.  After  some  unpleasant  joke, 
however,  Baranof  offered  tea.  I  felt  I  ought  to  refuse 
but  my  longing  was  too  strong.  I  degraded  myself  be- 
fore God  and  man  for  the  sake  of  a  drink  of  tea.  Re- 
freshed but  ashamed,  I  left  the  wicked  man  to  pray  in 
my  humble  retreat  for  strength  and  pride  in  the  sanctity 
of  my  calling." 

Veniaminof  is,  however,  the  Russian  missionary  best 
known.  He  learned  the  Aleutian  language  and  trans- 
lated into  it  various  books  explaining  the  doctrines  of  the 
church.  He  labored  faithfully  among  the  Aleutians  for 
many  years  and  under  his  rule  several  schools  and 
churches  were  established.  Some  of  the  governors  that 
followed  Baranof  aided  in  the  establishment  and  main- 
tenance of  schools.  But  so  far  as  the  natives  were  con- 
cerned there  were  few  practical  results,  though  Veniami- 


366        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

nof  claims  differently.  But  at  the  time  of  the  purchase 
only  a  small  proportion  of  the  natives  could  read  or  write, 
and  in  regard  to  the  religious  services  the  natives  are 
described  as  "  squatting  and  smoking  during  service,  lis- 
tening, bowing,  crossing  themselves  and  laughing  so  up- 
roariously that  the  officiating  priest  was  often  interrupted 
in  his  solemn  duty.  They  cared  not  for  religion,  or  at 
least  not  for  the  doctrine  of  the  Greek  Church."  Ve- 
niaminof  could  hold  their  attention.  "  All  the  people 
listened  and  listened  without  moving  until  he  stopped." 
But  the  other  priests  had  no  such  power. 

With  the  exception  of  this  work  of  the  Russians,  the 
efforts  of  Father  Duncan  at  Metlakatla.  and  the  labors  of 
some  English  missionaries  of  the  Yukon,  the  natives  were 
in  their  primitive  condition  when  the  United  States  took 
over  Alaska.  And  for  fifteen  years  and  more  our  gov- 
ernment gave  little  thought  to  them.  Had  not  the  mis- 
sions of  the  country  stepped  in,  the  little  enlightenment 
which  the  Russians  had  left  behind  and  other  mission- 
aries had  labored  to  instil  would  have  been  obliterated. 

The  Presbyterians  were  the  first  to  come  forward.  A 
school  and  mission  were  opened  at  Wrangell  in  1877  and 
a  year  later  another  at  Sitka.  Following  this,  the  mission 
at  Haines  was  established,  and  others  followed,  until  now 
the  Presbyterians  have  churches,  Sunday  Schools  and 
missions  from  Point  Barrow,  the  most  northerly  mission 
in  the  world,  to  Ketchikan.  Included  in  their  work  is  a 
modern  and  completely  equipped  hospital  and  the  fine 
Sheldon  Jackson  School  at  Sitka. 

The  Methodists  also  early  began  plans  for  helping  the 
natives.  In  1879.  Bishop  Haven  proposed  the  establish- 
ment of  a  mission  in  Alaska,  but  he  ])assed  away  before 
the  plans  were  carried  out.  In  1886.  the  Methodist  Home 
Missionary  Society  opened  a  mission  on  Unga  Island, 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        367 

and  the  work  thus  started  by  the  Methodists  has  been  con- 
tinued in  the  Jesse  Lee  Memorial  Home  at  Unalaska,  the 
most  westerly  Methodist  church  on  the  American  con- 
tinent. The  Methodists  also  have  missions  at  Nome  and 
at  Sinuk. 

In  the  70's  the  Roman  Catholic  church  started  mission 
work  in  Alaska,  beginning  first  on  the  Yukon.  Now  they 
have  some  twenty  missions  in  various  parts  of  the  Terri- 
tory, the  largest  and  best-known  being  probably  the  Mis- 
sion of  the  Holy  Cross  on  the  Yukon. 

Before  the  purchase  the  missionary  society  of  the 
Church  of  England  was  sending  workers  into  the  terri- 
tory along  the  Yukon  River.  Two  of  the  best-known  of 
these  early  workers  were  Archdeacon  Robert  McDonald 
and  Bishop  Bompas.  In  1862,  Archdeacon  McDonald 
established  the  first  church  mission  of  which  there  is  any 
record,  on  the  Yukon.  He  translated  the  Bible,  the 
prayer  book,  the  hymn  book  and  several  other  volumes 
into  the  Indian  language  and  worked  among  the  natives 
untiringly. 

In  1865  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Bompas,  later  Bishop  Bompas, 
came  to  the  Yukon  and  joined  in  the  work  among  the 
Indians. 

When  the  United  States  purchased  the  Territory,  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  church  of  this  country  took  up  the 
work  on  the  Yukon,  and  its  missions  are  scattered  up  and 
down  the  river  and  throughout  the  interior.  Not  only 
has  it  established  churches  and  schools  but  it  has  erected 
and  maintained  several  good  hospitals  and  is  doing  ex- 
cellent work  in  a  broad  way  among  the  natives  of  the 
interior. 

Other  denominations  also  entered  the  mission  field. 
The  Moravians  started  missions  on  the  lower  Yukon  and 
on  the  Kuskokwim.     The  Society  of  Friends  went  far 


368        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

north  on  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  began  work  among  the 
Eskimos.  Finally,  by  mutual  agreement  among  the 
various  denominations,  it  was  decided  that  each  denom- 
ination should  take  a  certain  part  of  the  Territory  and 
confine  its  work  to  that  section.  Under  this  arrangement, 
the  Presbyterians,  being  the  first  to  come  to  southeastern 
Alaska,  chose  that.  The  Baptists  took  Cook  Inlet  and 
thereabouts.  The  Methodists  held  to  their  field  on  the 
Aleutian  Islands,  and  the  Moravians  did  the  same  with 
the  field  they  had  chosen  on  the  Kuskokwim.  The 
Friends  are  still  working  in  the  Arctic  region  and  a  mis- 
sion of  theirs  is  established  on  the  Kobuk.  It  is  in 
charge  of  an  enthusiastic  worker  who  untiringly  teaches 
the  natives  "  book  learning,"  cleanliness  and  religion. 
The  Society  of  Friends  is  to  be  commended  for  the  prin- 
ciples of  temperance  they  have  instilled  in  the  natives,  for 
their  missionaries  have  been  especially  successful  in  cre- 
ating an  aversion  for  intoxicants. 

The  Congregationalists  have  various  missions  along 
Bering  Sea,  the  Swedes  on  Norton  Sound,  and  the  Nor- 
wegians in  the  Port  Clarence  district. 

Before  missionary  work  was  thus  fully  organized  the 
government  awoke  to  the  necessity  of  doing  something 
for  the  natives  and  in  1884  an  appropriation  was  made 
for  educational  purposes.  The  work  at  first  was  turned 
over  to  the  missions,  since  they  already  had  schools 
established.  Dr.  Sheldon  Jackson,  who  was  the  first  sec- 
retary of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Missions  and 
whose  name  was  almost  synonymous  with  early  mission- 
ary and  educational  work  in  Alaska,  was  appointed  first 
Superintendent  of  Tulucation.  But  as  this  arrangement, 
which  was  really  subsidizing  the  missions,  aroused  some 
opposition,  as  it  was  contrary  to  the  American  principle 
of  the  separation  of  church  and  state,  it  was  finally  aban- 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        369 

doned  and  a  Bureau  of  Education  for  the  Natives  was 
established  with  Dr.  Jackson  first  general  agent. 

This  bureau  is  doing  excellent  work.  It  has  schools 
for  the  natives  ranging  from  the  most  southeasterly  sec- 
tions to  Point  Barrow  on  the  Arctic  Ocean,  westward  on 
the  Aleutian  Islands  and  even  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  Diomede  Islands  of  Bering  Sea. 

The  usual  studies  are  taught,  some  schools  taking  their 
pupils  as  high  as  the  eighth  grade,  though  most  of  them 
reach  only  about  the  fifth  grade.  The  teaching  is  done 
in  very  practical  fashion.  In  arithmetic,  for  instance, 
the  children  are  instructed  to  figure  the  cost  of  tea,  bread, 
flour,  sugar  and  the  articles  of  daily  use  and  to  make 
bills  for  the  same,  thus  learning  arithmetic  as  it  is  con- 
nected with  daily  life  rather  than  as  something  abstract 
and  uninteresting.  Another  efficient  w^ay  in  w'hich  arith- 
metic is  taught  in  some  of  the  schools  is  by  the  arithme- 
tic game.  In  this  two  captains  are  named  by  the  teacher 
and  these  choose  their  aids.  Questions  are  then  given 
by  members  of  each  side  to  their  opponents,  the  questions 
being  the  result  of  each  one's  own  mental  effort. 

The  language  work  includes  the  making  of  an  Indian- 
English  dictionary  in  which  all  become  tremendously 
interested  and  thus  forget  their  hesitancy  in  speaking 
English. 

When  a  wireless  or  telegraph  station  is  near  at  hand 
the  discussion  of  the  news  is  part  of  the  morning's  exer- 
cises. So  eager  are  the  natives  to  get  in  touch  with  the 
world  that  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  have  the  school- 
room full  of  adults  to  hear  the  news.  This  dissemination 
of  the  news  arouses  interest  in  geography  and  history  and 
makes  the  teaching  of  these  branches  easy.  In  fact  the 
wireless  has  done  more  to  arouse  the  slumbering  intelli- 
gence of  the  native  than  years  of  abstract  book  work. 


370        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

It  has  brought  education  to  him  imperceptibly  and  given 
him  an  appetite  for  more. 

The  pupils  are  also  taught  manual  training,  domestic 
science  and  gardening.  The  girls  cut  and  make  dresses 
and  often  wear  to  school  the  results  of  their  handwork. 
Sewing  machines  are  now  in  almost  every  Indian  village 
and  in  some  villages  almost  every  native  home  has  its 
sewing  machine. 

Cooking  is  also  a  part  of  the  instruction.  The  teacher 
not  only  gives  the  instruction  at  the  school  but,  when 
possible,  goes  to  the  children's  homes  and  teaches  them 
there,  as  it  has  been  found  that  instruction  based  on 
actual  conditions  that  will  confront  the  pupil  is  more 
helpful. 

The  boys  are  taught  carpentry  and  make  log  cabins, 
canoes,  boats  and  sleds.  The  Yukon  sleds  they  build 
find  a  ready  sale.  They  are  also  instructed  in  sheet  iron 
work  and  make  airtight  stoves,  cook  stoves,  camp  stoves 
and  stove  pipe,  all  of  which  find  ready  buyers. 

Gardening  is  also  taught,  and  not  only  are  good  school 
gardens  made  but  many  native  homes  have  their  garden 
patches  as  the  result  of  what  is  taught  in  the  schools. 
The  pupils  take  great  pains  in  preparing  the  soil,  dili- 
gently picking  out  every  root  and  stone.  Corn,  tomatoes, 
string  beans,  cabbage,  radishes,  turnips  and  other  vege- 
tables are  raised.  Over-supplies  are  canned  and  stored 
for  winter.  Some  are  sold.  At  one  Indian  village  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  were  realized  one  season  from 
the  sale  of  the  vegetables  raised  in  the  gardens  as  a  result 
of  the  school  work. 

The  native  schools  do  much  besides  teaching  the  school 
curriculum.  The  teachers  are  missionaries  in  spirit  and 
do  whatever  they  can  to  improve  the  welfare  of  the  people 
generally. 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        371 

The  matter  of  sanitation  is  one  in  which  they  work  as 
earnestly  as  at  teaching.  At  one  village  when  the  teacher 
first  went  there  several  years  ago  there  were  but  four 
cabins  above  ground,  two  half  under  ground  and  four 
huts  altogether  under  ground,  beaver  style,  ten  habitations 
for  about  one  hundred  and  fifteen  people.  To-day  the 
village  is  spread  over  a  space  of  not  less  than  five  acres 
upon  which  are  erected  three  rows  of  dwellings,  twenty- 
four  in  number.  Each,  as  a  rule,  is  occupied  by  one 
family;  they  are  well  lighted  and  have  means  of  ventila- 
tion without  opening  the  door.  In  1911  there  were  no 
ranges  in  this  village  and  only  one  sewing  machine.  Now 
there  are  five  ranges,  nineteen  stoves,  eighteen  sewing 
machines  and  six  phonographs.  Tables,  chairs,  rocking- 
chairs,  bedsteads  and  bed  springs  are  to  be  found  in  these 
homes.     Premises  are  clean  and  the  rubbish  is  burned. 

Before  a  school  was  established  on  St.  Lawrence 
Island,  which  is  ice-bound  and  inaccessible  eight  months 
in  the  year,  the  natives  were  uncouth  barbarians,  living 
in  filthy  houses,  afflicted  with  all  manner  of  diseases,  ad- 
dicted to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  They  were  at 
the  mercy  of  the  traders  and  whalers  as  to  the  prices 
received  for  their  commodities.  For  food  they  were  en- 
tirely dependent  upon  their  uncertain  catch  of  seal  and 
walrus.     All  this  is  now  happily  changed. 

Throughout  Alaska  the  natives  are  taught  to  take  baths 
and  to  wash  their  clothes.  In  some  parts  of  the  Terri- 
tory these  are  no  easy  tasks,  for  the  only  water  to  be  had 
must  be  secured  l^y  melting  snow.  In  order  to  bathe 
Saturday  the  snow  melting  must  commence  Monday  and 
go  forward  all  the  week.  Very  possibly  the  only  wood 
to  be  secured  is  driftwood  that  washes  up  on  the  beach. 
This  cannot  be  collected  in  winter  and  the  supply  has  to 
be  frugally  managed. 


372        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Steam  home  canning  outfits  have  been  introduced  into 
many  villages  where  under  the  supervision  of  the  teach- 
ers the  surplus  vegetables,  wild  berries  and  fish  are  put 
up  for  winter  use. 

One  of  the  most  important  things  that  the  Bureau  of 
Education  has  done  for  the  natives  is  the  institution  of 
the  cooperative  store.  These  are  now  established  in  a 
number  of  Indian  villages  and  others  are  constantly  being 
formed.  They  are  really  a  native  stock  company  under 
government  supervision.  The  natives  take  shares  at  a 
certain  amount  each,  usually  ten  dollars,  the  teacher  tak- 
ing one  share.  A  Board  of  Directors  is  elected,  the 
teacher  being  one  of  the  board.  A  local  storekeeper  is 
selected  who  must,  of  course,  be  a  native  and  he,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  teacher,  manages  the  business. 

The  best  organized  stores  have  a  cash  register,  which 
is  a  great  asset  to  the  Indians,  as  they  seem  to  have  far 
more  faith  in  their  storekeeper  when  assisted  by  a  cash 
register  than  when  not.  At  the  end  of  the  year  an 
auditor  goes  over  the  accounts  and  sees  that  all  is  cor- 
rect. The  whole  process  of  the  business  is  fully  ex- 
plained to  the  Indians,  so  that  they  thoroughly  under- 
stand all  that  is  being  done. 

Three  kinds  of  dividends  are  paid,  a  cash  dividend  on 
the  stock,  a  stock  dividend  on  the  stock,  and  a  dividend 
on  cash  purchases  made  by  the  purchaser  at  the  store. 
This  last  is  done  to  encourage  them  to  trade  at  the  store. 
Prices  are  those  of  the  public  markets  as  a  rule,  as  the 
stores  are  not  intended  to  disturb  trade.  The  stores  are 
simply  for  the  purpose  of  securing  articles  of  clothing  and 
food  at  equitable  prices,  the  dividing  among  the  natives 
themselves  of  profits  that  would  otherwise  go  to  a  white 
trader,  and  the  acquiring  by  the  natives  of  self-confidence 
and  business  exnerience. 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        373 


The  income  of  one  village  has  increased  one  hundred 
and  fifty  per  cent  because  of  the  cooperative  store  there. 
One  of  these  stores  in  southeastern  Alaska  paid  a  divi- 
dend of  nearly  twenty  per  cent.  In  another  settlement 
three  annual  dividends  have  been  declared  and  more  than 
twelve  hundred  dollars  has  been  returned  to  the  natives 
who  use  the  store.  Another  of  the  stores  made  a  clear 
profit  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  per  cent  the  first 
year.  It  is  hoped  by  those  in  charge  that  in  the  course 
of  time  all  the  Indian  villages  will  have  their  cooperative 
stores.  Supplies  then  could  be  bought  in  such  large 
quantities  that  a  still  greater  saving  could  be  effected. 

Another  work  the  Bureau  has  undertaken  for  the 
natives  is  the  marketing  of  their  furs  and  ivories  and 
other  articles  of  trade.  These  are  shipped  by  mail  or 
express  to  the  headquarters  of  the  Bureau  in  Seattle, 
when  at  stated  times  they  are  auctioned  off  to  the  highest 
bidder.  Since  the  work  was  undertaken  these  sales  have 
totalled  some  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  Articles  that 
heretofore  brought  the  Indians  from  seventy-five  cents  to 
one  dollar  in  trade  with  unscrupulous  traders  have  real- 
ized by  this  plan  as  high  as  forty  and  forty-five  dollars. 
If  the  natives  wish,  supplies  they  need  are  bought  with 
the  money  at  wholesale  prices  if  possible  and  sent  back  to 
them  by  the  vessel  making  delivery  of  supplies  to  the 
settlements  on  the  Arctic  coast.  When  checks  are  sent, 
as  it  takes  practically  nine  months  for  a  check  to  reach 
its  destination  in  the  Arctic  and  return,  the  money  is 
placed  in  a  savings  bank  at  interest. 

But  by  far  one  of  the  biggest  and  most  helpful  things 
the  Bureau  has  done  for  the  native  is  the  introduction  of 
reindeer.  It  is  believed  this  will  become  one  of  the  im- 
portant industries  of  Alaska  and  of  great  value  to  the 
country  at  large. 


374        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

The  first  reindeer  were  brought  to  Alaska  in  1892  for 
the  purpose,  it  was  stated,  of  affording  rchef  to  the  des- 
titute natives.  It  was  claimed  that  the  whalers  in  Bering 
Sea  and  the  Arctic  Ocean  had  destroyed  much  of  the  food 
supply  of  the  Eskimos  not  only  in  the  waters  from  which 
the  Eskimos  had  drawn  abundantly  of  seal  and  walrus 
and  other  food,  but  by  the  use  of  firearms  had  driven  the 
caribou  back  into  the  interior.  The  Eskimos,  it  was 
claimed,  were  starving,  and  as  a  remedy  it  was  suggested 
that  reindeer  be  brought  from  Siberia.  The  matter  was 
called  to  the  attention  of  Congress  and  Dr.  Sheldon  Jack- 
son, who  was  in  Washington  at  the  time,  was  instrumen- 
tal in  getting  an  appropriation  from  Congress  for  the 
purpose.  In  the  first  ten  years  about  twelve  hundred  and 
eighty  deer  were  imported.  The  herd  now  numbers  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  thousand,  and  the  total  income  to 
the  natives  exclusive  of  the  meat  and  hides  used  by  them 
was  $97,515.00. 

With  the  first  herd,  Siberian  caretakers  were  brought 
to  look  after  the  animals  and  to  instruct  the  Eskimos  in 
their  management.  But  these  not  proving  satisfactory, 
Laplanders  were  engaged  with  later  herds  that  came. 
The  arrangement  with  the  Laplanders  included  an  agree- 
ment to  loan  them  a  certain  number  of  deer  for  five  years 
if  they  stayed  in  the  government  employ  for  a  certain 
length  of  time.  But  the  gold  excitement  broke  out  in 
Alaska  shortly  after  they  arrived  and  all  but  eight  de- 
serted. These  eight,  however,  remained  and  claimed 
their  deer,  and  this  is  how  there  is  at  present  a  certain 
number  of  reindeer  in  Alaska  belonging  to  Laplanders. 
One  of  the  Lapps  who  deserted  bought  some  deer  after- 
ward from  his  fellow  countrymen,  formed  a  company 
and  went  into  the  business  of  raising  reindeer  for  the 
market,  which  accounts  for  this  branch  of  the  industry. 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        375 

The  only  others  who  have  reindeer  in  addition  to  the 
natives  are  some  of  the  missions.  These  acquired  them 
through  Dr.  Jackson  who,  when  the  deer  were  first  intro- 
duced, thought  the  missions  could  be  helpful  in  distribut- 
ing the  deer  among  the  natives  and  proposed  that  the 
government  give  or  loan  deer  to  the  missions  for  this 
purpose.  This  was  done.  Some  were  given  outright, 
some  loaned,  and  in  this  way  the  missions  secured  herds 
which  some  still  have. 

With  these  few  exceptions  the  Eskimos  own  the  rein- 
deer, and  one  of  the  most  hotly  argued  questions  of 
Alaska  is  whether  they  shall  be  allowed  to  control  the 
industry  or  whether  it  shall  be  opened  to  the  public. 
Those  in  charge  of  the  work  do  not  object  to  outsiders 
owning  reindeer.  All  that  the  officials  of  the  Bureau 
want  is  proper  protection,  for  the  natives,  of  their  herds 
and  of  the  grazing  grounds ;  otherwise,  it  is  claimed,  un- 
scrupulous traders  would  soon  get  the  natives  in  debt  to 
them  and  take  their  herds.  The  reindeer  industry  is 
bringing  to  the  natives  a  permanent  and  settled  business, 
changing  their  uncertain  means  of  living,  such  as  fishing 
and  hunting,  into  something  that  can  be  depended  upon, 
transforming  their  nomadic  life  into  permanent  homes, 
and  giving  them  a  goodly  measure  of  self-respect  as  men 
of  business.  If  the  reindeer  industry  is  snatched  away 
from  them  all  this  will  be  lost. 

A  most  efficient  method  of  managing  the  reindeer  has 
been  introduced,  known  as  the  apprentice  system.  By 
agreement  the  natives  who  own  herds  take  on  an  appren- 
tice for  four  years.  The  first  two  or  three  years  the 
apprentices  are  supported  entirely,  the  remainder  of  the 
time,  partially.  During  the  apprenticeship  the  young 
native  is  awarded  altogether  thirty-four  adult  deer,  six 
at  the  end  of  his  first  year,  eight  at  the  end  of  the  second. 


376        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

and  ten  each  the  third  and  fourth  year.  By  the  time  he 
has  finished  his  four  years  in  this  practical  reindeer  col- 
lege, he  receives  instead  of  a  sheepskin,  thirty-four  adult 
deer,  which,  with  their  young,  means  a  herd  of  about 
fifty,  which  gives  him  a  good  start  in  life.  These  rein- 
deer owners  pledge  themselves  to  keep  up  the  distribu- 
tion by  taking  on  apprentices.  When  one  of  them  has 
from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  deer  he  must 
take  his  first  student;  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  and  fifty  calls  for  two  apprentices ;  two  hundred 
and  fifty  to  three  hundred  and  fifty,  three  apprentices. 
It  is  an  endless  chain  system  that  gives  the  Eskimo  a 
business  and  keeps  the  herds  in  native  hands,  for  by  gov- 
ernment regulations  no  native  may  sell  a  female  deer  to 
whites.  These  can  be  sold  only  among  the  natives,  and 
then  only  with  the  approval  of  teacher  and  superin- 
tendent. 

Within  the  last  few  years  reindeer  fairs  have  been  held 
that  have  done  much  to  increase  the  interest  in  the  work, 
improve  it,  and  bring  the  reindeer  owners  together  in  a 
unity  of  interest  that  will  help  weld  the  entire  Eskimo 
population  together.  The  men  come  to  these  fairs  from 
long  distances,  travelling  with  the  reindeer  with  outfits 
especially  prepared  for  the  occasion  and  bedecked  with 
colors.  Often  the  temperature  is  from  thirty  to  fifty 
degrees  below  zero,  but  their  ardor  is  not  chilled. 

Discussions  take  place  as  to  the  best  way  to  judge  mar- 
ketable deer,  as  to  the  best  methods  of  slaughtering  and 
dressing,  the  best  kinds  of  sleds,  and  all  other  matters 
pertaining  to  the  work.  There  are  contests  in  lassoing 
deer,  in  driving  wild  deer,  in  pulling  loads  of  various 
weights,  in  sled  lashing,  racing  and  such  things.  Fine 
exhibits  are  also  made  of  harness,  sleds  and  fur  clothing. 

Some  of  these  events  are  exceedingly  interesting  and 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        377 

novel.  For  the  lassoing  contest  the  herd  of  eight  hun- 
dred deer  is  driven  to  a  flat  and  penned  in  by  a  sort  of 
human  corral.  When  the  signal  is  given  the  lassoers 
run  into  the  centre  of  the  herd  and  the  fun  begins.  It 
is  a  pretty  sight  to  see  the  gayly  dressed  natives  moving 
back  and  forth  to  keep  the  deer  penned  in,  the  v^ell- 
trained  collie  dogs  on  the  outskirts  ready  to  pick  up  any 
stray  deer  that  may  break  through  the  crowd,  the  stately 
old  females  standing  on  the  outskirts  of  the  herd  among 
the  people,  a  few  trained  sled  deer  mingling  freely  with 
the  people,  the  camp  of  eighteen  or  twenty  tents  among 
the  willows,  and  the  Sawtooth  Mountains  in  the  distance. 
The  bulls  after  being  lassoed  once  become  very  tricky 
and  will  dodge  backward  and  forward  and  try  in  every 
possible  way  to  avoid  the  lasso. 

The  contest  for  driving  wild  deer  is  also  exciting. 
At  a  given  signal  the  contestants  enter  the  herd,  rope, 
throw,  harness,  hitch  and  drive  a  hornless  wnld  bull  a 
half  mile  and  return,  and  then  unhitch,  unharness  and 
remove  the  halter  all  unassisted.  Immediately  upon 
being  lassoed,  the  bull  will  fight  to  get  away  and  it  will 
then  become  necessary  to  throw  him.  The  manoeuvring 
to  harness  him  is  as  exciting.  As  soon  as  the  harness 
is  fastened  on,  the  bull  starts  to  run  wild  and  throws  the 
men  in  all  directions.  One  man  who  had  lassoed  the 
largest  and  wnldest  bull  in  the  herd  w^as  unable  to  drive 
him  at  all  and  finally  tied  him  on  the  sled  and  pulled  him. 
On  the  return  trip  the  deer  run  at  a  breakneck  speed  for 
the  herd  and  some  speedy  and  wild  rides  are  experienced. 

The  sled  lashing  contest  is  one  of  the  most  difficult. 
It  is  impossible  to  remove  the  mittens,  for  the  fingers 
freeze  in  a  few  seconds,  and  if  they  come  in  contact  with 
any  metal  adhere  immediately.  Each  sled  is  loaded  with 
stove,  grub  box,  clothing  sack  and  sleeping  bag.     These 


378        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


have  to  be  strapped  and  covered  so  snow  cannot  enter. 
Outside  of  the  canvas  cover,  under  the  lashing  where  they 
can  be  reached  easily,  are  snowshoes  and  rifle. 

All  the  other  contests  are  equally  interesting  and  each 
is  instructive ;  in  the  races  for  instance  it  has  been  found 
that  the  deer  can  be  driven  to  better  advantage  double 
than  single,  as  has  been  the  method. 

There  are  many  exhibits.  In  the  one  of  fur  clothing 
there  are  a  number  of  complete  outfits,  each  consisting 
of  parka,  pants,  mukluks,  mittens  and  sleeping  bag,  all 
made  of  deerskin  and  deerskin  trimmings.  The  judges, 
who  are  Eskimo  women,  award  the  prizes  according  to 
the  length  of  the  stitches,  the  tying  of  the  thread,  the  tan- 
ning of  the  skins,  the  length  and  firmness  of  the  hair. 

There  are  many  discussions,  and  the  sound  business 
sense  and  high  ethical  principles  advanced  by  the  Eskimos 
in  regard  to  business  dealings  with  others  would  astound 
those  not  in  touch  with  the  advance  of  this  race. 

Although  more  than  a  hundred  people  attend  these 
fairs  and  have  to  be  fed  and  cared  for,  the  Eskimos  do 
all  this  work  themselves. 

As  can  be  seen,  these  fairs  are  a  great  help  in  improving 
the  reindeer  business  and  in  creating  cooperation,  good 
will  and  self-respect  among  the  herders.  Each  native 
who  owns  reindeer  now  holds  his  head  a  little  higher 
because  the  man  who  has  no  deer  at  all  is  "  all  the  same 
as  nothing  at  the  fair."  The  technique  of  the  industry 
has  been  given  an  impetus  by  awakening  interest  in  all 
connected  with  it.  As  a  result  of  these  fairs  a  reindeer 
institute  has  been  established  where  the  men  meet  and 
discuss  matters  of  importance  to  the  work.  Thus 
through  the  reindeer  the  progress  of  the  Eskimo  is  as- 
sured. With  the  meat  for  food,  the  skin  for  clothing, 
harness  and  leather,  the  sinew  for  thread,  the  horns  for 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        379 

knife  handles,  and  the  hair  for  mattresses,  the  reindeer 
meets  almost  all  the  needs  of  the  people.  It  would  be 
most  unwise  to  let  this  industry  be  taken  from  them. 

Not  only  in  such  large  and  important  matters  as  the 
reindeer  business  and  cooperative  stores  does  the  Bureau 
look  after  the  welfare  of  the  natives,  but  no  detail  that 
will  help  them  to  self-reliance  and  a  wide  outlook  on  life 
is  too  small  to  receive  attention. 

In  some  villages  the  school  republic  idea  has  been 
started  and  is  doing  much  to  inculcate  ideas  of  citizen- 
ship. A  council  is  chosen  and  the  making  of  laws  for 
the  republic  is  left  to  the  members.  One  of  the  first 
acts  passed  in  one  village  was  for  the  care  and  protection 
of  school  property. 

Various  methods  are  employed  to  win  the  natives  to 
the  use  of  English  exclusively.  In  one  settlement  the 
slogan  was  adopted,  "  Hydaburg  an  English  speaking 
town  in  five  years."  In  town  meetings  and  gatherings 
the  subject  is  always  brought  up  and  success  seems  as- 
sured. In  some  schools  the  children  are  required  to 
keep  diaries  as  part  of  their  language  work,  the  diaries 
being  written  in  English.  In  others  they  are  required 
to  write  in  English  the  Indian  folk  stories. 

Both  the  Boy  Scouts  and  the  Camp  Fire  Girls  have 
branches  among  the  natives  and  the  young  people  are 
very  proud  of  their  membership  cards. 

The  Eskimos  have  started  the  publication  of  a  little 
magazine  and  so  popular  is  it  with  the  people  themselves 
that  in  many  Eskimo  homes  it  is  kept  inside  the  Bible. 
The  Eskimos  themselves  contribute  to  it,  their  articles 
having  to  do  with  the  reindeer,  with  histories  of  the  dif- 
ferent tribes,  with  their  own  folklore  and  with  such 
subjects  as  will  develop  a  strong,  united  Eskimo  senti- 
ment. 


380        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

Electric  light  has  also  reached  the  Eskimo  through  the 
work  of  the  Bureau.  This  means  much  to  the  natives, 
not  only  in  the  matter  of  improving  the  home  work,  for 
the  well  lighted  home  is  apt  to  be  more  cleanly,  and  sew- 
ing and  such  tasks  can  go  forward  better,  but  there  is 
greater  cheerfulness  and  the  weird  fancies  and  super- 
stitions bred  in  the  semi-darkness  of  the  old  time  seal 
oil  lamp  disappear  in  the  bright  clear  light  of  electricity. 

But  the  Bureau  is  not  satisfied  with  present  achieve- 
ments. With  the  education  and  development  of  the  na- 
tives new  fields  ever  open.  A  home  for  the  old,  blind, 
and  poor  natives  is  much  needed.  Such  homes  are  pro- 
vided for  other  peoples,  yet  the  Indians  who  are  quite  as 
much  in  need  are  neglected.  The  Indians  themselves  are 
less  able  to  care  for  their  own  helpless  than  are  other 
people,  for  the  native  method  of  life  is  not  as  yet  on  any 
large  scale  fitted  to  care  for  the  infirm. 

A  good  Trades  School  to  which  the  pupils  who  have 
graduated  from  the  lower  schools  could  come  would  be 
invaluable.  Several  hundred  Alaska  Indians  now  go  to 
the  Indian  schools  in  the  States  for  further  education. 
But  in  a  Trades  School  in  Alaska  they  would  be  spared 
the  expense  and  time  of  a  long  journey,  and  in  addition 
could  be  taught  the  things  that  are  specifically  needed  for 
Alaskan  life.  Many  of  these  things  are  not  taught  in  the 
schools  in  the  States  because  they  are  not  needed  outside 
of  Alaska.  The  money  spent  on  their  education  outside 
of  Alaska  could  be  used  to  much  better  economic  advan- 
tage within  the  country  where  they  are  to  live  and  use 
their  training. 

Practical  things  would  he  taught.  For  instance,  a 
master  mechanic  would  hnvc  charge  of  the  boys  and  for 
one  subject  of  instruction  would  repair  the  engines  of 
gas  launches  that  could  be  sent  to  the  school.     The  na- 


The  Natives  and  their  Education        381 

tives  now  use  several  hundred  power  boats  for  fishing. 
In  the  winter  these  could  be  overhauled  and  repaired  at 
the  school,  provide  the  pupils  with  practical  experience 
and  work  that  would  have  a  zest  because  it  would  be 
useful  and  save  the  owners  of  the  boats  considerable 
expense. 

Instruction  in  practical  boat  building  would  be  another 
of  the  courses.  The  waterways  are  largely  the  natives' 
roads  and  their  means  of  earning  a  living.  Boats  are 
their  industrial  plant  so  to  speak,  and  anything  that  in- 
creases their  knowledge  in  this  field  and  makes  them  more 
efficient  in  it  is  helpful. 

A  tannery  in  which  reindeer  skins  could  be  made  into 
leather  and  manufactured  into  articles  of  commerce 
would  be  another  practical  course.  There  are  many 
things  the  Indians  of  Alaska  need  to  be  specifically  taught 
that  can  be  done  better  in  their  ow^n  school  than  in  schools 
outside  where  there  is  no  demand  for  such  instruction. 
A  start  toward  this  Trades  School  is  now  being  made 
and  it  is  hoped  to  have  it  established  at  Metlakatla. 

Hospitals  are  greatly  needed.  So  also  are  canneries 
in  some  sections  and  sawmills  in  others.  Such  industries 
are  of  great  help  in  making  the  natives  economically 
independent,  increasing  their  self-respect,  and  in  giving 
them  settlements  of  permanent  character. 

Two  acts  have  been  passed  recently  by  the  Territorial 
government  that  have  been  of  great  advantage  to  the 
natives.  One  provides  citizenship  and  the  other  local 
self-government.  The  act  for  citizenship  has  given  the 
younger  generation  an  incentive  to  separate  themselves 
from  Indian  customs  antagonistic  to  civilization  and  to 
reach  forward  to  an  Intelligent  understanding  of  citizen- 
ship. For  many  years  the  position  of  the  Alaska  Indian 
has  been  anomalous.     Being  born  in  Alaska  he  was  not  a 


382        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


foreigner,  hence  could  not  be  naturalized.  Not  being 
recognized  as  Indians  the  Federal  laws  governing  the 
Indians  of  the  States  were  not  applicable.  He  has  been 
compelled  to  obey  the  white  man's  laws,  to  pay  trade  and 
boat  licenses  and  money  into  the  fund  for  schools  for 
white  children,  yet  he  had  no  way  to  become  a  citizen. 
As  soon  as  Alaskans  were  permitted  legislation  of  their 
own,  steps  were  taken  to  remedy  this  state  of  affairs. 

The  Alaskan  Indian  in  his  primitive  state  showed  a 
resourcefulness,  an  endurance,  and  an  artistic  sense  that 
are  to  be  admired.  With  the  education  he  is  receiving, 
he  is  proving  himself  intelligent,  reliable  and  useful.  He 
can  become  a  happy  and  helpful  part  of  our  people,  quite 
as  much  so  as  any  of  the  foreigners  that  throng  our  gates 
and  with  far  more  right  to  help  and  a  welcome.  The 
art  of  the  Indian  is  a  most  desirable  addition  to  our  art 
life.  The  Indian  baskets  and  blankets,  their  beadwork 
and  delicate  featherwork,  the  inspiration  that  lies  back  of 
these  and  the  keen  eye  and  deft  hand  that  guide  it,  are 
needed  in  the  full  development  of  beauty.  With  the 
crude  materials  of  forest  and  stream  they  have  in  the 
past  evolved  most  exquisite  handwork.  Their  baskets 
made  of  native  grasses  and  fibre  are  fine  in  workmanship 
and  the  decorations  upon  them  colored  with  dyes  ex- 
tracted from  roots  and  vegetables  are  a  delight  to  the  eye 
both  in  design  and  tinting.  Dainty  little  bags  and  to- 
bacco pouches  of  fish  skin,  swans'  feet  and  fur  are  as 
charming  as  any  white  woman's  fancy  work,  and  their 
headdresses  of  beads  and  feathers  are  beautiful  embod- 
iments of  patience,  skill  and  taste.  In  decorative  realms 
alone,  the  Indian  thought  is  a  valuable  and  distinctive 
contribution  and  the  world  is  the  richer  for  having  it. 
It  should  be  fostered  and  larger  fields  opened  for  a  fuller 
development.     It  should  not  be  allowed  to  pass  away. 


CHAPTER    XXVI 


LIFE    IN    ALASKA 


The    climate.    Education.     Newspapers,    wireless,    cables 

AND    THE    telegraph.      THE    PEOPLE    AND    THEIR    INDOMITABLE 
SPIRIT. 

To  the  question  often  asked,  "  What  is  Hfe  in  Alaska 
like?"  one  would  need  to  reply,  "  What  part  of  Alaska?  " 
As  has  been  shown,  Alaska  covers  such  a  vast  area  and 
presents  so  many  different  conditions  of  climate  and  en- 
vironment that  no  one  answer  would  accurately  fit  it  all. 
For  instance,  Juneau  and  Nome  in  the  winter  are  vastly 
different,  though  in  the  summer  life  in  each  in  its  main 
features  is  not  unlike.  Again,  in  some  places,  life  in 
Alaska  is  that  of  the  pioneer;  in  others,  it  is  that  of  the 
city  dweller,  with  all  modern  conveniences.  In  viewing 
life  in  Alaska  one  must  have  in  his  mind's  eye  the  vast 
territory  and  its  many  varying  features. 

The  climate  perhaps  claims  first  attention.  Throughout 
Alaska  in  the  summer  it  is  warm,  even  in  the  far  north 
Arctic  region.  This  is  due  to  the  long  hours  of  sunshine. 
At  Fort  Yukon,  which  is  on  the  Arctic  Circle,  the  ther- 
mometer often  registers  a  hundred  and  more.  William 
Dall,  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Corps,  when  he 
was  there  in  the  '60's  tells  of  a  temperature  that  high. 
Along  the  automobile  route  from  Fairbanks  to  the  coast, 
thermometers  in  the  sun  at  roadhouses  have  registered 
one  hundred  and  six,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  and  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three  degrees.  So  it  is  easy  to  be 
seen  that  Alaska  in  the  summer  is  not  exactly  a  cold 

383 


384        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

country.  But  the  air  is  almost  always  refreshingly  cool 
and  invigorating,  for  it  sweeps  down  from  snow  peaks 
and  glaciers  and  through  countless  miles  of  spruce  forests. 
On  the  coast  in  the  summer  there  is  often  a  great  amount 
of  rain.  Those  planning  a  trip  to  Alaska  would  do  well 
to  take  the  Inside  Passage  during  the  last  two  weeks  of 
June  if  possible,  and  if  this  cannot  be  done  as  soon  there- 
after as  they  can.  Good  weather  here  means  much  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  scenery,  for  fog  or  clouds  cut  off  the 
view  of  the  snow  mountains,  which  add  so  much  to  the 
beauty  of  the  landscape. 

June  twenty-first  in  Alaska  is  a  great  holiday.  It 
does  not  get  dark  at  all  and  there  is  direct  sunlight  from 
twenty  to  twenty-two  hours.  There  are  picnics  every- 
where, preferably  from  an  elevation  where  the  midnight 
sun  can  be  seen.  At  Fairbanks  and  many  other  towns 
league  games  are  played  at  midnight.  Indeed  this  going 
to  bed  in  the  daytime  is  little  to  the  liking  of  most  Alas- 
kans, so  exquisitely  beautiful  are  the  long  sunsets  that 
become  long  sunrises  without  a  break. 

In  winter  the  southeast  parts  of  Alaska  have  about  the 
same  temperature  as  Washington,  D.  C.  At  some  of  the 
farthermost  southern  points  the  temperature  is  not  unlike 
that  of  Jacksonville,  Florida.  This  is  due  to  the  warm 
waters  of  the  Japanese  current.  This  current,  Kuro  Siwo. 
or  Black  Stream,  as  it  is  called  by  the  Japanese  because  of 
its  dark  color  as  compared  with  the  blue,  sparkling  waters 
of  the  Pacific,  comes  up  from  the  Indian  Ocean,  crowds 
through  the  passage  between  Asia  and  the  Philippines, 
flows  thence  along  the  east  coast  of  China  and  Japan,  east- 
ward along  the  south  shore  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  and 
thence  southeast  along  the  Alaskan  coast.  It  is  more 
beneficial  than  the  Gulf  Stream  is  to  the  east,  for  little  of 
the  cold  water  of  the  Arctic  finds  its  way  southward.  The 


An  Alaskan  Sunset 


Life  in  Alaska  385 


warmth  and  moisture  of  this  Japanese  current  cause  the 
dense  vegetation  of  the  southeast  Alaskan  shores. 

In  the  interior  at  Fairbanks,  north  of  the  Yukon,  and 
at  Nome,  the  winter  temperature  may  drop  forty,  fifty, 
and  even  more,  below.  But  it  is  mostly  a  clear,  dry  cold* 
the  people  dress  for  it  and  no  hardship  is  suffered.  The 
long  Arctic  night,  so  much  talked  of,  is  really  not  all  night, 
as  it  is  supposed  to  be,  for  the  sun  is  above  the  horizon 
for  a  brief  time  even  on  the  shortest  days  and  early  morn- 
ing and  late  afternoon  are  much  like  twilight.  Besides, 
electricity  is  so  common  now  in  Alaska  that  even  the 
myth  of  the  Arctic  night  has  disappeared  before  it.  To  be 
sure,  an  Arctic  blizzard  is  not  a  pleasant  visitation,  but 
neither  is  a  North  Dakota  or  Montana  blizzard. 

In  the  larger  towns  of  Alaska  life  is  much  the  same  as 
in  any  city.  These  towns  have  their  telephones,  their 
electric  lights,  their  telegraphic  news  from  the  outside, 
their  newspapers,  theatres,  churches,  libraries  and  schools. 
They  all  have  many  fraternal  organizations  and  usually  a 
progressive  woman's  club. 

In  the  unsettled  regions,  the  country  north  of  the 
Yukon  for  instance,  the  Kuskokwim,  or  the  upper  reaches 
of  the  Koyukuk,  life  of  course  is  that  of  the  pioneer. 
Log  cabins  replace  the  pretty  bungalows  of  the  cities,  oil 
lamps  and  candles,  electricity.  Mail  does  not  come  very 
often,  and  in  winter  sometimes  not  at  all.  Life  is  often 
one  of  hardship  and  deprivation.  But  those  living  it  do 
not  so  regard  it.  There  is  freedom,  and  always  the 
hope  of  finding  gold,  and  these  two  lend  a  zest  that  makes 
it  enjoyable.  The  Alaskan  pioneer  may  be  hatless,  shirt- 
less, shoeless,  but  it  is  said  he  is  never  hopeless.  And 
this  attitude  of  mind  makes  him  indifferent  to  what  others 
would  consider  hardship. 

The  Territory  has  a  cable  and  telegraph  system  with 


386        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


several  thousand  miles  of  cable  and  land  lines,  and  tele- 
graph offices  or  wireless  stations  at  the  chief  cities  and 
settlements  throughout  the  Territory.  These  keep  the 
people  in  touch  with  the  news  of  the  world.  The  larger 
towns  have  their  newspapers,  and  bulletins  are  posted  in 
the  windows  of  the  newspaper  offices  the  same  as  in  the 
cities  in  the  States. 

Education  is  well  looked  after  by  both  the  federal  and 
the  territorial  governments.  There  are  grammar  schools 
both  in  incorporated  and  outside  of  incorporated  towns. 
In  some  of  these,  high  school  branches  are  also  pro- 
vided, and  in  some  towns  there  are  good  high  schools. 
In  Juneau  for  instance,  the  high  school  work  offers  three 
different  courses;  classical,  scientific,  and  commercial. 
The  first  two  present  work  leading  to  enrollment  in  a 
college  or  university.  The  last  is  a  general  course  and 
particularly  fits  the  graduate  for  work  in  the  business 
world.  Additional  courses  in  public  speaking,  mechanical 
drawing  and  sewing  are  offered,  and  domestic  science  and 
manual  training  are  taught.  Juneau  High  School  gradu- 
ates are  admitted  to  the  University  of  Washington  and 
other  coast  universities  without  entrance  examinations. 

The  school  building  at  Juneau  is  modern  in  every 
respect  even  to  an  electric  range  for  the  domestic  science 
classes.  There  is  an  auditorium  that  seats  five  hundred, 
a  gymnasium  with  shower  baths,  the  latest  high  pressure 
heating  system,  and  modern  ventilation  that  does  away 
with  the  opening  of  the  windows.  The  teachers  are  re- 
({uired  every  third  year  to  attend  a  summer  school. 

The  money  for  the  schools  is  derived  from  both  the 
federal  and  territorial  governments.  From  the  Alaska 
Fund,  which  is  derived  from  licenses  paid  to  the  federal 
government,  a  certain  per  cent  is  returned  to  the  Terri- 
tory for  the  support  of  the  schools  outside  incorporated 


Life  in  Alaska  387 


towns.  These  are  called  Nelson  schools  because  Senator 
Nelson  introduced  the  bill  for  their  establishment  at  the 
time  the  schools  for  white  children  and  those  of  mixed 
blood  were  discontinued.  This  money,  though  classed  as 
federal  support,  is  not  really  federal  aid  in  its  true  sense, 
for  the  money  comes  directly  from  the  Territory.  It 
simply  comes  through  federal  channels.  In  1917  the 
Territorial  legislature  appropriated  more  than  $400,000 
for  the  support  of  the  schools  for  two  years.  A  Terri- 
torial Board  of  Education  was  established  of  which  the 
governor  is  an  ex-ofhcio  officer,  and  a  Commissioner  of 
Education  appointed.  The  salaries  paid  teachers  are 
higher,  and  the  percentage  of  teachers  who  are  college 
graduates  or  who  have  had  previous  experience,  is  greater 
than  in  the  States. 

Churches  of  almost  all  denominations  are  to  be  found 
in  the  larger  towns.  There  are  numerous  stores  in  all 
the  more  important  cities,  some  of  them  being  department 
stores.  The  goods  as  a  rule  are  of  the  best  quality. 
Freight  charges  are  the  same  whether  the  articles  brought 
in  are  high  grade  or  low  grade  and  so  the  Alaskans  insist 
upon  the  best  in  order  to  get  the  full  worth  of  their  money. 
A  resident  of  Fairbanks  tersely  summed  up  the  situation 
when  he  said,  "  We  want  things  that  will  last  when  we 
must  pay  present  freight  charges." 

And  yet,  the  cost  of  living  in  Alaska  is  not  so  high  as 
outsiders  are  led  to  suppose.  One  is  told  that  the  smallest 
currency  is  twenty-five  cents.  This  is  true  in  the  interior, 
but  this  does  not  mean  that  twenty-five  cents  is  the  lowest 
price  for  articles.  One  simply  needs  to  make  his  purchase 
amount  to  twenty-five  cents.  The  things  he  buys  may  be 
five  or  ten  cent  articles. 

Almost  every  home  has  its  garden,  many  have  hot- 
houses.    There  are  market  gardeners  and  truck  farmers 


388        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

near  all  the  towns  and  fresh  vegetables  are  to  be  had  at 
reasonable  prices.  Nearly  every  large  town  now  has  not 
only  one  but  several  dairies,  and  fresh  milk,  cream  and 
butter  are  abundant.  Chickens  are  numerous  and  fresh 
eggs  are  no  longer  an  unknown  quantity.  Fish  are 
abundant  and  cheap,  moose  and  caribou  steaks  are  found 
in  season  on  the  menus  of  most  restaurants  and  are  de- 
licious, nourishing  and  not  costly  dishes.  It  would  be  of 
little  value  to  quote  prices  at  present  (1918)  as  they  are 
not  normal,  but  better  meals  could  be  obtained  in  Alaska 
at  this  time  for  the  same  money  than  in  the  States.  There 
are  comfortable  hotels  in  all  the  larger  towns  and  many 
restaurants,  so  that  the  traveller  will  not  lack  accommo- 
dations. 

In  fact,  life  in  Alaska  is  much  like  life  elsewhere,  and 
there  would  be  little  reason  to  speak  of  it  specifically  ex- 
cept that  many  seem  to  think  it  is  strangely  and  myste- 
riously different. 

One  great  pest  there  is,  and  that  is  the  mosquito.  When 
he  disappears,  which  he  is  said  to  do  about  the  last  of 
July,  his  place  is  taken  by  the  gnat,  the  "  no-see-em  "  of 
the  Indian.  It  is  claimed  by  many  residents  of  the  larger 
towns  that  the  mosquito  could  be  exterminated  in  the 
vicinity  of  cities  by  the  use  of  oil.  Perhaps  when  Alaska's 
oil  fields  are  opened  and  oil  less  expensive  than  it  is  at 
present,  the  experiment  will  be  tried. 

As  for  the  people  of  Alaska,  they  are  "  just  folks  " 
like  the  rest  of  us,  except  that  there  is  a  friendliness  and 
a  neighborliness  that  comes  from  living  in  a  pioneer 
land,  and  a  resourcefulness  and  determination  that  come 
from  conquering  it,  that  have  largely  died  out  in  more 
thickly  settled  and  more  highly  developed  countries.  The 
Alaskan  of  to-day  is,  if  not  the  pioneer,  but  one  genera- 
tion removed  from  him,  and  the  indomitable  spirit  of  the 


Life  in  Alaska  389 


pioneer  is  still  a  palpable  presence  in  the  Alaskan  atmos- 
phere. In  the  Alaskan's  vocabulary  there  seems  to  be  no 
such  word  as  "  Impossible."  If  a  thing  needs  to  be  done, 
that  settles  the  matter.  Time  is  not  spent  in  considering 
whether  it  can  be  done.  Thought  is  turned  at  once  upon 
the  "  how,"  and  though  to  an  outsider  the  achievement 
seems  an  absolute  impossibility,  the  Alaskan  puts  it 
through.  Those  hardy  pioneers  who  wrestled  with  and 
conquered  the  White  Pass,  the  White  Horse  Rapids, 
Thirtymile  River,  the  Copper  River  canyon,  the  Valdez 
trail,  the  bogs  of  the  tundra  and  the  blizzards  of  the  Arc- 
tic are  not  easily  daunted,  and  their  descendants  are 
imbued  with  the  same  spirit.  It  is  a  delightful  mental 
attitude  to  meet.  It  is  cheery,  hopeful,  optimistic,  and 
yet  underneath  is  the  iron  determination  that  neither 
bends  nor  breaks,  no  matter  what  opposes  it. 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

BUSINESS    OPPORTUNITIES    THAT    ALASKA    OFFERS 

Smelters  needed.    The  opening  of  the  oil  fields  will  bring 

MANY  business  OPPORTUNITIES.  By-PRODUCTS  OF  FISHERIES 
AWAITING  UTILIZATION.  WaTER  POWER  CAN  BE  DEVELOPED. 
A  BIG  FIELD  FOR  PAPER  PULP  MILLS.  GrEAT  GRAZING  AREA  FOR 
REINDEER.  MaNY  OPENINGS  FOR  SMALL  INDUSTRIES  THAT 
REQUIRE   LITTLE  CAPITAL. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  "  What  are  the  business 
opportunities  in  Alaska  ?  "  In  reply  to  this  a  man  well 
versed  in  Alaskan  affairs  said,  "  Almost  every  business 
possible  in  the  States  is  possible  in  Alaska,  for  Alaska  has 
nearly  all  the  resources  to  be  found  in  the  United  States." 

To  a  large  extent  this  is  true.  Alaska  has  nearly  all 
the  minerals  that  are  found  in  the  United  States,  and 
some,  such  as  tin,  not  found  there.  All  the  business  enter- 
prises connected  with  mining  therefore  can  be  carried 
forward  in  Alaska.  Its  fish  in  quantity  and  variety  equal, 
if  not  surpass,  those  of  the  rest  of  the  country.  Its  furs 
easily  outstrip  them.  Agriculture,  of  course,  will  never 
be  on  so  large  a  scale,  but  it  will  become  an  increasingly 
important  and  successful  industry.  The  cultivation  of 
certain  fruits  is  possible,  but  fruit  raising  cannot  compete 
with  the  States.  Cattle  raising  can  become  quite  a  profi- 
table industry  and  the  making  of  butter  and  cheese  and 
other  dairy  products  has  a  ])right  future.  There  are  vast 
timber  areas  that  open  up  possibilities  of  lumbering. 

But  those  who  wish  to  know  about  business  prospects 
in  Alaska  usually  desire  more  specific  knowledge.     For 

390 


Business  Opportunities  that  Alaska  Offers    391 

these  there  are  many  openings,  some  requiring  much  capi- 
tal, some  little. 

One  of  the  greatest  needs  of  Alaska  is  smelters.  All 
the  ore  mined  there  that  needs  smelting  must  now  be 
shipped  to  the  States,  which  is  an  extremely  costly  pro- 
cess. In  addition,  the  finished  product  has  often  to  be 
returned  for  Alaska's  use. 

The  single  matter  of  tin,  for  instance,  is  an  illustration. 
At  present  practically  all  the  tin  this  country  uses  is  im- 
ported from  Europe.  Even  when  mined  at  the  Straits, 
as  the  tin  regions  of  the  Malay  Archipelago  are  compre- 
hensively called,  the  tin  is  usually  sent  to  Europe  for 
redistribution,  finally  coming  to  this  country  and  going  on 
to  Alaska  for  use  in  the  canneries  there.  If  the  tin  mined 
in  Alaska  could  be  smelted  there,  possibly  also  made  into 
the  tin  cans  needed  there  literally  by  the  million,  it  is  easy 
to  see  the  saving  effected  for  the  American  people  on 
every  can  of  salmon  used  or  on  any  product  for  that  mat- 
ter put  up  in  tin,  not  only  in  Alaska,  but  in  any  part  of  our 
country. 

The  coal  for  this  smelting  is  right  at  hand.  There  is 
coal  on  the  Seward  Peninsula  where  tin  is  found  and  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  copper  regions  where  smelters  are 
greatly  needed. 

With  the  government  railroad  providing  cheaper 
transportation  and  fuel,  quartz  mining  and  the  working 
of  low  grade  ores  will  leap  forward  in  the  interior  of 
Alaska  and  there  will  be  openings  in  many  of  the  side 
industries  connected  with  this  work. 

With  the  lifting  of  the  ban  on  the  oil  fields  a  great  oil 
industry  with  all  its  ramifications  will  spring  into  life. 
These  resources  are  not  accessible  now,  owing  to  govern- 
ment regulations,  but  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when 
they  will  be  thrown  open,  so  it  behooves  those  interested 


392        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

in  the  subject  to  keep  in  touch  with  all  legislation  affect- 
ing them  and  all  news  about  them.  So  long  ago  as  1913, 
15,682,000  gallons  of  crude  oil,  1,735,000  gallons  of 
naphtha,  661,000  gallons  of  illuminating  and  150,000 
gallons  of  lubricating  oil  were  shipped  into  Alaska. 
With  the  growth  of  the  Territory  this  demand  steadily 
grows,  so  it  can  be  seen  what  a  field  is  here  right  in  Alaska 
itself  for  the  products  of  the  oil  industry. 

The  fish  of  Alaska  open  up  opportunities  in  many  direc- 
tions for  business  enterprises.  Not  only  can  one  engage 
in  the  established  industries,  but  there  are  delicious  fish 
not  yet  on  the  market,  such  as  the  candlefish  and  the  Atka 
mackerel,  and  many  industries  connected  with  the  shell 
fish  that  have  barely  started.  In  addition  there  is  much 
waste  associated  with  the  fishing  industries  that  could  be 
utilized.  Cod  livers  and  cod  tongues  are  utilized  else- 
where, but  in  Alaska  they  are  thrown  away.  In  Norway, 
cod  caviar  is  made  that  is  a  source  of  much  profit.  Glue, 
fertilizer  and  such  things  could  be  made  from  the  waste 
of  the  canneries.  At  a  few  canneries  experiments  are 
being  undertaken  in  manufacturing  chicken  food  as  a  by- 
product but  this  work  is  yet  in  its  infancy.  The  canneries 
have  such  a  short  season  and  are  so  extremely  busy  during 
their  season  that  they  have  little  time  for  side  issues.  But 
there  are  openings  here  for  those  who  will  devote  their 
chief  attention  to  them. 

On  the  Pribilof  Islands  there  is  much  waste  matter  that 
the  government  is  now  undertaking  to  utilize.  But  the 
government  is  always  glad  to  welcome  private  enterprise 
in  the  development  of  Alaska's  resources  and  by  applica- 
tion to  those  in  charge,  openings  might  be  found.  For 
instance,  the  tough,  leathery  throats  of  the  fur  seals  can 
be  used  in  the  manufacture  of  card  cases  and  other  small 
articles.     There  are  quantities  of  these  throats  on  the 


Business  Opportunities  that  Alaska  Offers    393 

islands  and  a  business  opening  awaits  for  some  one  who 
will  make  use  of  them. 

Recently  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands  large  deposits  of 
bone  have  been  found  suitable  for  fertilizers.  These  are 
said  to  be  the  largest  known  bone  deposits  in  the  world. 
Six  thousand  tons  are  in  sight  on  the  surface  and  the  gov- 
ernment is  desirous  of  contracting  with  private  parties 
for  their  utilization. 

The  development  of  the  water  power  of  Alaska  has 
scarcely  begun.  In  many  places  in  Alaska  are  great 
water  power  resources  due  not  only  to  rain,  especially  in 
the  southeastern  part,  but  to  the  mountain  streams  fed  by 
the  glaciers  and  snows  that  everywhere  crown  and  clothe 
Alaska's  countless  mountains.  One  such  enterprise  is 
already  started  near  Juneau  but  there  is  opportunity  for 
many  more  and  just  as  great  need. 

This  project  at  Juneau  holds  a  permit  from  the  Forestry 
Department  for  the  powers  of  Speel  River,  which  are 
capable  of  a  development  of  one  hundred  thousand  horse 
power  continuously  throughout  the  year  at  a  lower  cost 
than  anywhere  else  except  Norway.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  cost  of  generating  power  at  Speel  River  will  be  ap- 
proximately five  dollars  per  horse  power  a  year.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  the  cost  of  power  for  electrical 
chemical  purposes  at  Niagara  is  fifteen  dollars  per  horse 
power  a  year,  and  at  Keokuk,  Iowa,  twenty-three  dollars, 
it  will  be  realized  what  advantages  Speel  River  presents 
at  the  very  outset.  But,  in  addition,  the  various  raw  ma- 
terials, such  as  lime,  barytes,  g}^psum,  copper  and  such 
things,  are  right  at  hand.  Lime  rock  of  excellent  quality 
abounds  in  the  neighboring  mountains,  and  the  iron  sul- 
phides now  washed  into  the  ocean  by  the  mines  at  Juneau 
yield  readily  to  treatment  in  electrical  furnaces  and  are 
converted  into  sulphur  for  pulp  mills  and  iron  for  foun- 


394        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

dries,  while  from  some  of  the  concentrates  of  the  mills, 
zinc  and  lead  could  be  recovered  as  by-products. 

Among  the  supplies  of  great  interest  to  the  gold  mines 
of  the  Territory  are  cyanide  and  powder.  The  demand 
for  cyanide  will  increase  as  the  cost  is  lowered,  as  it  can 
be  by  using  Alaska's  water  power.  With  the  price  of 
cyanide  reduced,  the  treatment  of  low  grade  ores  becomes 
more  profitable  and  the  treatment  of  low  grade  ores  is  one 
of  Alaska's  needs. 

This  electric  energy  could  be  used  also  in  the  wood 
pulp  industry  and  this  is  without  doubt  one  of  the  coming 
industries  of  Alaska,  and  also  in  the  drying  of  kelp  for 
making  fertilizer.  The  United  States  Bureau  of  Soils 
has  established  the  fact  that  the  great  kelp  beds  of  Alaska 
are  an  available  and  rich  source  of  potash. 

The  Forest  Service,  in  connection  with  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey,  has  installed  recording  gauges 
on  all  the  streams  suitable  for  water  power  throughout 
southeastern  Alaska.  A  complete  record  is  kept  of  the 
flow  of  these  streams  and  is  published  for  the  use  of  the 
public. 

The  kelp,  which,  as  has  been  said,  is  found  so  prolifi- 
cally  in  Alaskan  waters,  offers  business  openings  for  those 
interested  in  this  industry.  In  the  Orkneys  kelp  farms 
are  quite  a  source  of  livelihood  for  the  people. 

The  great  timber  resources  of  Alaska  have  scarcely 
been  touched  for  business  enterprises.  In  the  interior  the 
wood  has  been  cut  for  fuel  purposes.  Along  the  coast 
there  is  here  and  there  a  sawmill.  But  no  large  timber 
industries  have  been  started. 

The  most  important  of  these  is  the  paper  pulp  business, 
and  the  forests  of  Alaska  afford  a  favorable  field  for  the 
development  of  this  much  needed  industry.  The  numer- 
ous deep  bays  and  protected  inland  passages  offer  cheap 


Business  Opportunities  that  Alaska  Offers    395 

transportation,  and  good  harbors  for  ocean-going  ships. 
Many  suitable  shore  sites  for  manufacturing  plants  with 
available  water  power  are  to  be  found,  together  with  an 
abundance  of  timber  that  on  account  of  size  and  quality 
is  valuable  chiefiy  for  this  industry. 

There  are  many  other  openings  in  connection  with  the 
timber  resources  of  the  Territory.  The  fish  canneries 
need  packing  boxes,  and  other  fish  industries  need  bar- 
rels. If  these  are  brought  from  the  States  it  means 
freight  charges,  besides  the  using  up  of  space  on  the  boats 
needed  for  the  transportation  of  supplies  not  to  be  ob- 
tained in  Alaska.  These  industries,  therefore,  would 
find  a  market  right  at  hand  for  their  products. 

Cattle  grazing  in  certain  parts  of  Alaska  is  quite  practi- 
cable. Native  grasses  grow  abundantly  in  many  places. 
These  can  be  stored  in  silos  for  winter  use.  It  is  believed 
also  that  angora  goats  can  be  profitably  raised.  On 
Kodiak  dairying  can  be  carried  on  successfully.  William 
Dall  a  half  century  ago  prophesied  that  the  Aleutian 
Islands  would  become  a  great  dairying  centre  of  the 
Pacific  coast. 

The  raising  of  reindeer  as  an  industry  looms  large. 
Stefansson  believes  it  will  in  time  be  the  leading  industry 
of  Alaska.  There  are  almost  unlimited  grazing  grounds 
for  the  deer,  not  only  on  the  vast  Arctic  plain  north  of 
the  Yukon  and  in  the  Seward  Peninsula  and  to  the  north 
of  this  region,  but  also  in  the  Kuskokwim  country.  Nuni- 
vak  Island  alone  has  a  grazing  area  of  approximately  one 
thousand  square  miles  and  could  support  ten  thousand 
deer. 

There  are  many  minor  industries  that  can  be  developed 
and  which  the  country  needs.  The  tourist  trade  will  un- 
doubtedly increase  rapidly  in  volume  and  there  are  open- 
ings in  many  lines  that  have  to  do  with  it.    At  such  towns 


396        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

as  Ketchikan,  Wrangell,  Juneau,  Skagway,  Cordova,  a 
thriving  business  will  undoubtedly  grow  in  providing  side 
trips  for  tourists.  At  all  these  towns  are  beautiful  bays 
and  inlets  and  passages  not  reached  by  the  large  steamers 
but  well  worth  a  visit.  If  small  boats,  either  gas  launches 
or  sail-boats,  were  available  at  moderate  prices,  a  thriving 
business  of  this  sort  could  be  developed.  Tourists  would 
make  these  towns  their  headquarters  if  they  could  get 
about  to  neighboring  points  easily  and  if  a  sojourn  were 
made  attractive  for  them.  Many  of  these  towns,  which 
came  into  life  as  a  result  of  the  gold  rush  and  whose  pros- 
perity passed  away  with  the  disappearance  of  the  stam- 
peders,  could  be  as  busy  and  successful  during  the  summer 
season  as  a  tourist  resort  as  the  popular  places  of  the 
Atlantic  coast.  They  have  far  more  to  offer  in  natural 
advantages. 

The  wild  fruits  that  grow  in  such  abundance  could  be 
utilized  for  preserves,  jellies  and  jams.  Such  an  industry 
would  become  even  more  profitable  if  Alaska's  tin  could 
be  smelted  and  made  into  cans  right  in  the  Territory. 

The  volcanic  ash  to  be  found  in  many  places  is  an  excel- 
lent basis  for  cleansing  agents.  It  can  be  had  for  the 
taking.  Here,  again,  cans  are  needed,  but  wood,  water 
power  and  other  essentials  are  at  hand. 

Alaska  has  a  wonderful  future  commercially.  In  addi- 
tion to  its  own  present  home  industries  and  the  many  that 
will  develop,  it  will  derive  much  benefit  from  the  trade 
that  will  come  to  Seattle  from  Siberia.  The  shortest 
route  to  the  north  Pacific  ports  on  the  Asiatic  side  is  by 
way  of  the  Aleutian  Islands.  Russia  has  already  sent 
representatives  to  look  into  the  practicability  of  the  route 
to  the  Kara  Sea  through  the  North  Pacific  Ocean.  Radio 
stations  will  be  established  for  the  guidance  of  steamers 
that  will  ply  permanently  over  this  route. 


Business  Opportunities  that  Alaska  Offers    397 

Of  this  trade  Mr.  J.  L.  McPherson,  of  the  Alaska  Bu- 
reau of  the  Seattle  Chamber  of  Commerce,  says  in  an 
article  entitled  "Alaska,  the  Meeting  Place  with  the 
Orient " : 

"  Alaska,  situated  at  the  cross  roads  of  the  Pacific,  mid- 
way between  the  great  ocean  ports  of  America  and  Asia, 
on  the  great  circle  and  shortest  ocean  route,  occupies  a 
position  of  vital  importance  in  the  building  of  the  great 
trade  of  the  future  between  these  countries. 

"  The  great  circle  route  passes  to  the  north  of  the 
southern  islands  of  the  Aleutian  chain,  but  as  the  waters 
tributary  to  these  islands  are  in  part  unsurveyed,  the 
vessels  now  keep  to  the  south  of  these  islands.  When 
this  area  is  surveyed  and  aids  to  navigation  installed,  the 
shortest  trans-Pacific  route  will  cross  north  through  the 
Aleutian  Islands  at  Unimak  Pass  and  back  again  to  the 
south  in  the  vicinity  of  Atka  Island,  the  most  western 
island  of  Alaska.  A  large  coaling  station  will  be  located 
at  Unalaska  Bay  to  furnish  a  fuel  supply  from  Alaska's 
great  coal  deposits,  and  at  this  point  will  grow  a  trading 
centre  of  importance  —  a  meeting  place  for  the  American 
and  the  Asiatic.  A  second  coaling  station  will  probably 
be  installed  further  to  the  westward  with  suitable  harbor 
facilities. 

"  In  the  great  era  of  world  trade  following  the  war, 
our  commercial  opportunity  will  be  with  the  East,  Siberia 
and  Asiatic  Russia.  This  trade  will  not  be  ours  without 
effort  as  we  shall  have  able  competitors  with  whom  our 
rivalry  must  be  friendly.  Among  these  and  more  closely 
situated,  as  regards  the  southern  and  settled  portions  of 
Siberia,  is  Japan,  with  whom  our  business  relationship 
must  increase  as  the  great  trade  of  the  Pacific  expands. 
The  business  with  this  section  of  the  East  will  be  largely 
in  manufactured  articles.     Where  Japan  has   the   raw 


398        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

products,  competition  will  in  time  become  keen  and  we 
shall  be  obliged  to  effect  all  possible  economies  in  the  cost 
of  production.  One  of  the  first  factors  of  cost  to  be  re- 
duced will  be  transportation,  and  as  a  result  the  manufac- 
turer will  endeavor  to  locate  his  plant  close  to  the  source 
of  his  raw  products  and  tidewater. 

"  Alaska  is  richly  endowed  with  all  raw  products  and 
all  minerals  required  by  the  manufacturer.  With  the 
future  expansion  of  this  business  it  is  very  probable  that 
the  coast  of  Alaska  will  offer  the  most  economical  location 
for  some  of  these  plants,  and  that  we  will  have  in  Alaska 
centres  of  manufacture  as  well  as  of  trade  for  the  trans- 
Pacific  business. 

"  In  the  pioneer  development  of  northwestern  Siberia, 
Alaska  is  exceptionally  favored  because  of  her  proximity 
to  this  section  of  Asia  which  enables  her  to  furnish  the 
necessary  adjacent  base  to  the  building  of  this  trade. 
Northwestern  Siberia  is  practically  unknown  and  with 
the  exception  of  small  trading  posts  is  a  vast  unpeopled 
region.  The  early  development  of  such  a  country  necessi- 
tates a  close  base  of  operation,  for  the  trade  is  small  and 
large  vessels  cannot  successfully  handle  the  business. 

"  In  early  years,  Nome  developed  a  growing  business 
with  the  Siberian  outposts,  which  was  carried  on  by 
schooners  operating  from  Nome.  This  condition  was 
only  possible  through  the  suspension  of  Russian  customs' 
regulations.  About  1907,  the  Russian  government,  ap- 
preciative of  the  great  future  possibilities  of  Siberia, 
adopted  a  policy  which  would  result  in  Russianization  of 
all  phases  of  this  development.  As  there  is  no  customs' 
office  north  of  Petropavlosk  on  the  Kamchatka  Peninsula, 
a  distance  of  more  than  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  Nome, 
the  Russian  government  only  had  to  enforce  the  customs' 
regulation  to  stop  the  business  that  Nome  was  gradually 


Business  Opportunities  that  Alaska  Offers    399 

building  with  these  Siberian  outposts,  a  business  which 
Nome  and  the  Alaskan  people  were  especially  fitted  to 
handle  as  they  had  become  experienced  through  handling 
like  trade  with  the  outposts  of  Alaska. 

"  In  order  to  further  the  Russianizing  of  this  develop- 
ment, the  Russian  government  subsidized  a  line  of  steam- 
ers to  operate  during  the  open  season  from  Vladivostok 
north  along  the  coasts  of  Siberia.  As  this  distance  is  great 
and  required  an  enormous  tonnage  of  coal  to  furnish  fuel 
for  the  round  trip,  and  as  the  freight  requirements  of 
these  small  trading  posts  were  limited,  the  venture  proved 
a  failure.  After  two  or  three  seasons  this  unprofitable 
service  was  discontinued.  The  more  settled  portion  of 
northern  Siberia,  in  Yakutsk  province,  facing  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  was  entirely  shut  off  from  communication  with  the 
outside,  except  by  a  long,  overland  journey  across  the 
wastes  of  Northern  Siberia,  a  journey  that  had  to  be 
made  by  pack  trains  in  summer  and  by  sleighs  in  winter. 
As  a  result  of  these  conditions,  this  part  of  Siberia  soon 
experienced  a  shortage  of  necessary  supplies  and  mate- 
rials. 

"  The  Alaska  Bureau  of  the  Seattle  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce presented  these  facts  to  the  Russian  Ambassador 
and  Consul  General  Bogoiavlensky,  who  recommended  to 
the  Imperial  government  that  the  former  trade  conditions 
existing  between  Nome  and  Siberia  again  be  permitted; 
that  absolute  free  trade  between  Alaska  and  the  northern 
and  western  shores  of  Siberia  be  allowed;  and  that  south 
of  Cape  Navarin,  all  government  agents  be  ex-officio 
customs'  officers,  which  would  result  in  practically  the 
same  measure  of  free  trade  as  extended  to  the  northern 
portions.  Shortly  after  these  recommendations  reached 
Petrograd  the  Russian  government  was  unseated. 

"  With  the  establishment  of  more  settled  conditions  in 


400        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


Russia  and  Siberia,  the  Alaska  Bureau  will  again  make 
an  effort  to  bring  about  a  renewal  of  these  former  trade 
conditions  which  were  found  essential  to  the  pioneer  de- 
velopment of  this  isolated  section  of  Siberia,  and  which 
was  of  material  trade  advantage  to  Nome,  especially 
equipped  as  it  is  to  successfully  handle  this  business. 

"  Unless  gold  in  paying  quantities  or  some  equally  rich 
discovery  is  made  to  stimulate  quick  settlement,  the 
growth  of  trade  and  transportation  facilities  in  a  new 
land  is  slow.  The  facilities  which  can  be  offered  by  Nome 
in  building  up  this  trade  are  of  the  greatest  value  in  the 
development  of  Siberia.  As  this  development  grows  and 
trade  expands,  it  will  become  a  field  for  larger  oppor- 
tunities which  can  be  centred  from  more  distant  bases. 
When  this  time  arrives  we  shall  have  as  competitors  Japan 
and  other  countries.  If  we  shall  have  succeeded  in  han- 
dling this  business  during  the  early  stages  along  equitable 
lines,  we  need  have  nothing  to  fear  from  this  future 
competition. 

"  Alaska  in  her  great  future  development  will  find  an 
ever  growing  community  of  interests  with  Japan  and  the 
other  great  peoples  of  the  East.  America's  outpost, 
Alaska,  is  Asia's  nearest  neighbor.  Heretofore  our  com- 
munity of  interest  has  only  been  evidenced  in  the  seal 
industry,  but  this  is  bound  to  extend  to  the  great  fishing 
industries,  to  an  interchange  of  raw  products,  and  to  the 
l)uilding  of  a  trade  relationship,  which  under  broad,  tact- 
ful direction  is  bound  to  assume  enormous  proportions. 
"  In  the  building  of  this  trade  relationship  and  in  the 
use  of  Alaska's  great  store  of  raw  products,  constant 
thought  must  be  given  to  the  future  prosperity  of  Alaska 
and  the  welfare  of  her  people." 


CHAPTER  XXVTII 

the  present  complicated  government 

Alaska's  development  hindered  by  inadequate  and  confused 
legislation.  instances  of  injustice  from  which  people 
SUFFER.      Proposed    remedies.      Early    indifference   and 

MISGOVERNMENT.  ChARLES        SUMNER'S        RECOMMENDATION. 

Benefit  to  the  nvhole  country  of  just  legislation  for 
Alaska. 

As  has  been  shown,  Alaska  is  a  wondrously  rich  coun- 
try. Its  development  means  industries  and  homes  for 
the  Territory  itself  and  a  great  tide  of  useful  and  needed 
productions  poured  into  other  parts  of  the  United  States 
that  will  decrease  the  cost  and  add  to  the  comfort  of 
living. 

But  at  present  the  development  of  Alaska  is  held  up 
by  the  laws  governing  it. 

Alaska's  government  is  a  motley  affair.  Franklin  K. 
Lane,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  who  understands  the  sit- 
uation admirably,  calls  it  a  patchwork.  Many  of  the 
laws  that  govern  it  are  passed  by  Congress.  There  is  a 
territorial  government,  but  here  again  Congress  holds 
the  controlling  power,  for  there  are  many  federal  re- 
strictions and  all  laws  passed  by  the  home  legislature 
must  be  transmitted  to  Congress  and  if  disapproved  by 
the  legislative  body  at  Washington  they  are  void.  To 
be  sure.  Alaska  has  a  delegate  at  the  national  capital,  but 
he  has  no  vote;  and  to  make  an  impression  at  Washing- 
ton without  a  vote  one  must  be  a  rare  creature  indeed. 
His  is  but  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness.     Thus  in  its 

401 


402        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

practical  working  out,  Alaska  is  largely  governed  from 
Washington.  But  Washington  is  busy  with  many  prob- 
lems that  seem  more  important  than  Alaskan  affairs,  and 
so  Alaska  receives  little  interested  attention.  The  adage 
of  Russian  days  is  not  inapt,  "  Heaven  is  high  and  the 
Czar  is  distant."  So  far  as  any  real  understanding  of 
its  needs  and  conditions  is  concerned  by  the  major  part 
of  those  who  control  its  legislative  destiny,  Alaska  is  in 
much  the  same  condition  to-day  that  it  was  during  the 
time  of  the  Russian  occupancy. 

This  distant  lawmaking,  inefficient  as  it  is,  is  not  all 
of  the  maladministration  of  Alaskan  affairs.  Many  de- 
partments and  bureaus  have  the  carrying  out  of  the  laws 
passed.     This  results  in  almost  inextricable  confusion. 

There  is  a  government  for  certain  public  lands  and 
forests,  another  for  other  lands  and  forests.  There  is 
one  procedure  for  making  homestead,  mineral  and  other 
land  entries  within  the  national  forests;  another  proce- 
dure for  making  such  entries  in  land  outside  the  forest 
reserves. 

Certain  islands  along  the  southern  coast  of  Alaska  may 
be  leased  for  fox  farming  by  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce; adjoining  unreserved  islands  may  not  be  leased, 
but  may  be  acquired  under  the  general  land  laws  from 
the  Department  of  the  Interior.  Still  other  islands  are 
reserved  for  special  purposes  under  the  control  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture. 

Vast  areas  in  the  forest  reserves  are  entirely  untim- 
bered,  but  are  held  under  the  regulations  of  the  Forest 
Service,  while  timbered  lands  in  other  sections  are  unpro- 
tected. Some  of  the  timbered  islands  off  the  coast  are 
included  within  the  forest  reserves.  Other  islands  equally 
well  timbered  are  not. 

Homesteads  within  the  forest  reserves  are  surveyed 


The  Present  Complicated  Government    403 


by  the  Forest  Service  without  cost  to  the  entryman. 
Homesteaders  on  unsurveyed  lands  outside  the  Forest 
Reserves  must  pay  for  their  own  surveys.  It  has  hap- 
pened that  three  separate  investigations  of  mineral  claims 
have  been  made  by  field  officers  of  the  Forest  Service, 
Land  Office  and  Geological  Survey. 

Roads  and  trails  within  the  Forest  Reserves  are  built 
by  the  Forest  Service.  Roads  and  trails  outside  these 
reserves  are  built  by  a  commission  of  army  officers.  Still 
a  third  department  having  charge  of  road  building  has 
now  been  established  by  the  Territorial  Legislature. 

The  appalhng  confusion  that  must  necessarily  follow 
from  such  overlapping  authority  on  some  questions  and 
no  authority  at  all  on  some  others  leads  to  all  sorts  of 
complications. 

A  citizen  who  wanted  to  lease  an  island  for  fox  farm- 
ing carried  on  a  correspondence  with  three  different  de- 
partments for  several  months  in  an  effort  to  learn  which 
had  jurisdiction  and  authority  to  make  the  lease.  It  was 
finally  decided  that  none  of  them  possessed  this  authority. 

It  has  taken  as  long  as  three  years  for  a  patent  to  be 
issued  in  uncontested  land  claims  merely  because  of  the 
lengthy  procedure  involved  in  securing  the  proper  filling 
out  of  papers.  Where  any  question  arises  over  an  entry 
which  prevents  the  local  register  and  receiver  from  issu- 
ing a  final  certificate,  the  papers  in  a  homestead  case  after 
final  proof  is  offered,  must  make  at  least  two  round  trips 
between  Washington  and  Alaska  before  patent  can  issue. 
If  there  is  any  contest,  or  any  complication  arises  out  of 
the  claim,  this  long  distance  correspondence  may  be  al- 
most indefinitely  extended. 

An  example  of  this  is  seen  in  the  experience  of  a 
homesteader  near  Haines.  He  built  a  house  and  estab- 
lished residence  in  1902.     His  claim  was  on  unsurveyed 


404        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

and  unreserved  public  lands.  In  1908  he  applied  for  a 
survey  which  he  secured.  In  1909  he  made  the  necessary 
filing  at  Juneau  and  waited  for  his  patent.  In  1910,  not 
having  received  it,  he  wrote  the  Commissioner  asking 
about  it.  He  received  a  reply  stating  that  action  had 
been  deferred,  waiting  instructions  from  Washington. 
Later,  the  Commissioner  referred  the  claim  to  the  Geo- 
logical Survey,  asking  information  as  to  whether  any 
coal  or  petroleum  deposits  were  embraced  in  the  entry. 

In  1911  the  Director  of  the  Geological  Survey  wrote 
Ihe  Commissioner  that  no  survey  of  the  land  had  been 
made  and  that  there  were  no  data  on  the  subject,  but  that 
he  believed  no  deposits  of  coal  or  petroleum  occurred  in 
that  vicinity. 

Finally  the  homesteader  became  anxious  and  wrote  to 
the  delegate  at  Washington,  requesting  his  aid.  The  del- 
egate wrote  to  the  Commissioner  in  Alaska  and  was  in- 
formed that  the  lands  embraced  in  this  entry  had  been 
withdrawn  for  examination  for  coal  and  petroleum  and 
that  action  would  be  taken  on  this  entry  as  soon  as  infor- 
mation about  the  coal  and  petroleum  was  received. 

At  last  the  homesteader  received  a  patent  nine  years 
after  he  had  settled  on  the  land  and  after  making  his  own 
survey  at  a  cost  of  $700.00.  It  will  be  noted  that  though 
action  was  deferred  for  some  time  pending  determination 
as  to  whether  or  not  the  land  contained  coal  or  petroleum, 
there  was  no  field  investigation  of  any  kind  and  that  when 
the  patent  was  finally  issued  the  Land  Office  really  had 
no  more  actual  information  concerning  the  nature  of  the 
land  than  when  the  patent  was  first  asked  for. 

Patent  for  a  mineral  claim  was  four  years  in  being 
secured,  the  papers  making  several  trips  l^etween  Alaska 
and  Washington,  and  the  Forestry  Service,  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior,  and  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 


The  Present  Complicated  Government    405 

as  well  as  the  Land  Office,  all  having  to  take  a  hand  in 
the  matter.  Had  such  work  been  centralized  in  Alaska 
under  one  bureau,  the  patent  could  have  been  secured 
in  a  few  months. 

On  the  Aleutian  Islands  all  matters  relating  to  wild 
birds  and  game  and  the  propagation  of  reindeer  and  fur- 
bearing  animals  are  under  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture;  all  matters  pertaining 
specifically  to  fisheries  and  all  aquatic  life  and  to  the 
killing  of  fur-bearing  animals  are  under  the  Department 
of  Commerce ;  all  matters  other  than  these  are  under  the 
charge  of  the  Departments  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  the  reservation  is  more  than 
a  thousand  miles  in  length  and  that  it  is  visited  by  a 
steamer  about  twice  in  a  summer,  it  can  be  seen  that  the 
unfortunate  inhabitant  who  sends  a  request  for  a  permit 
to  the  wrong  department  may  wait  a  year  or  more  before 
he  even  discovers  he  has  made  a  mistake.  Several  years 
may  pass  before  he  gets  the  permit  for  the  work  he  may 
wish  to  undertake. 

This  confusion  and  delay  means  loss  both  to  the  settler 
and  government  and  greatly  hampers  the  development  of 
the  Territory. 

There  is  as  much  interlocking,  and  consequently  as 
great  confusion  in  the  administering  of  the  game  laws. 
The  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce and  the  Bureau  of  Fisheries  all  have  to  do  with 
the  game  of  the  country,  yet  when  an  agent  of  the  Bureau 
of  Education  reported  to  Washington  the  discovery  of  a 
wholesale  slaughter  of  walrus  which  would  menace  the 
food  supply  of  the  natives,  it  was  decided  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  that  the  killing  was  illegal  but  that 
there  was  no  government  machinery  to  prevent  it. 

Another  instance  of  this  confusion  in  the  application 


406        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


of  the  game  laws  is  seen  in  the  now  historic  incident  of 
the  black  and  brown  bear.  The  brown  bear  is  a  game 
animal  under  the  control  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, while  the  black  bear  is  recognized  by  the  law  as  a 
fur-bearing  animal  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce.  But  very  frequently  black  bears 
have  brown  cubs  and  to  decide  just  to  which  department 
the  care  of  a  little  brown  cub  belongs  would  necessitate 
a  journey  on  the  part  of  the  game  warden  to  the  home 
of  papa  and  mamma  bear  and  a  grave  inspection  of  their 
color.  If  they  happened  to  be  the  big  Kodiak  brown 
bear  and  resented  such  unwarranted  intrusion  upon  fam- 
ily life  —  well,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  life  of  a  game 
warden  in  Alaska  might  be  all  a  bear  and  no  skittles. 

Nor  is  this  interlocking  and  overlapping  of  many  gov- 
ernmental bureaus  the  only  cause  of  confusion.  In  the 
individual  department  there  is  much  distraction.  The 
Land  Office,  one  of  the  most  vital  to  the  fullest  develop- 
ment of  Alaska,  is  a  fair  sample.  The  administration  of 
laws  here  is  not  plain  and  simple.  They  need  many  con- 
structions to  arrive  at  their  meaning.  And  the  regula- 
tions and  reservation  orders  are  many,  ambiguous,  and 
not  known  to  the  settler. 

A  mere  list  of  some  of  these  reservations  suggests  the 
labyrinths  of  technicality  the  settler  may  unconsciously 
wander  into.  Reservations  as  to  specific  areas  are  of  the 
following  kinds,  though  this  list  by  no  means  includes  all : 

For  the  purpose  of  protecting  breeding  grounds  for 
native  birds. 

For  the  propagation  of  reindeer  and  fur-bearing  ani- 
mals and  their  protection. 

For  the  encouragement  and  development  of  fisheries. 

For  the  propagation  of  foxes  and  the  protection  of 
seals. 


The  Present  Complicated  Government    407 

For  the  protection  of  moose. 

For  the  experimental  work  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture. 

For  the  conduct  of  the  work  of  the  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation, 

For  the  benefit  of  the  Indian. 

For  the  establishment  of  sanitoriums. 

For  the  protection  of  certain  grounds  used  by  the 
Indians  for  fishing. 

For  National  Forest  interests. 

For  military  and  naval  need. 

For  power,  reservoir,  town-site,  recreation,  lighthouse 
requirements. 

For  landing  places  for  Indian  canoes  and  other  of  their 
craft. 

For  special  timber  necessities  in  connection  with  the 
building  of  railroads. 

For  Forest  Administrative  sites. 

For  areas  surrounding  hot  springs  and  springs  val- 
uable for  cura.tive  and  medicinal  properties. 

For  National  monuments. 

For  the  construction  of  fish  hatcheries. 

For  particular  fish  streams  and  their  catchment  basins. 

For  rights  of  way  for  road  purposes  along  shore  lines. 

For  lands  containing  coal,  oil  and  petroleum. 

For  all  streams  used  by  merchantable  sea-going  fish, 
either  for  spawning  grounds,  or  as  a  passage  to  spawning 
grounds. 

For  streams  which  may  be  used  for  commercial  pur- 
poses such  as  the  transportation  of  light  water  craft, 
logs  and  so  forth. 

As  can  be  seen,  these  reservations  are  rather  appalling 
to  the  man  or  woman  contemplating  taking  up  a  home- 
stead, and  though  decision  in  regard  to  some  is  simple, 


408        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

others,  such  as  those  on  navigable  streams  and  those  used 
by  sea-going  merchantable  fish,  may  lead  the  land  claim- 
ant into  contact  with  two  or  three  departments,  the  sev- 
eral bureaus  concerned,  the  local  officers  in  Alaska,  and 
the  legal  officers  of  the  departments  and  bureaus,  until 
the  mass  of  decision  and  correspondence  that  ensues 
astounds  the  settler  and  probably  so  confuses  him  that 
he  will  not  take  up  the  land. 

In  fact,  there  is  a  degree  of  uncertainty  attending  the 
perfection  of  a  title  to  land  with  the  exception  of  mining 
claims,  and  as  to  what  areas  are  subject  to  appropriation, 
that  discourages  if  it  does  not  prevent  the  taking  up  of 
land  by  settlers. 

The  conservation  laws  present  another  field  in  which 
Alaskans  believe  reforms  are  necessary.  There  is  no 
confusion  or  interlocking  of  authority  here,  but  there  is, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  Alaskan,  prohibition.  The 
feeling  in  Alaska  in  regard  to  the  coal  situation  runs 
higher  perhaps  than  on  any  other  subject.  The  tensity 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  several  years  ago,  the  citizens 
of  Cordova  dumped  a  quantity  of  Canadian  coal  from  the 
wharf  as  a  protest  against  regulations  that  compelled 
them  to  buy  fuel  from  a  foreign  country  when  there  was 
an  abundance  of  it  almost  under  their  feet.  This  inci- 
dent has  gone  down  in  Alaskan  history  as  the  Cordova 
Coal  Party. 

The  Alaskan  contends  that  the  present  leasing  system 
for  coal  lands  is  equivalent  to  absentee  landlordism,  which 
has  never  proven  a  success  anywhere ;  that  at  present  the 
owners  of  the  coal  lands,  or  in  other  words,  the  govern- 
ment, is  far  away  and  knows  little  of  the  actual  conditions 
in  Alaska.  That  there  is  little  personal  knowledge  of 
Alaska  among  the  law  makers  in  Washington  and  like- 
wise little  generally  enlightened  public  opinion  about  it 


The  Present  Complicated  Government    409 


to  demand  intelligent  action  on  their  part,  is  a  matter  of 
history.  In  1900,  when  the  law-making  body  at  the 
national  capital  felt  something  must  be  done  to  appease 
the  indignation  of  Alaskans  at  the  neglect  and  indiffer- 
ence shown  for  their  needs,  an  act  was  passed  extending 
to  Alaska  the  provisions  of  the  United  States'  coal  laws. 
According  to  these  coal  laws,  none  but  subdivided, 
marked  and  platted  lands  could  be  taken  up  by  a  claim- 
ant. Yet  at  that  time  there  was  not  a  land  survey  in 
the  whole  of  Alaska.  This  is  but  one  sample  of  many 
that  shows  the  kind  of  treatment  Alaska  has  had  at  the 
hands  of  the  legislators  at  Washington.  So  that  absen- 
tee landlordism  in  regard  to  the  coal  lands  does  not 
appeal  to  the  people  of  the  Territory,  who  are  on  the 
ground  and  know  that  intimate  personal  knowledge  is 
needed  to  frame  proper  legislation  about  the  important 
question  of  coal. 

Alaskans  further  contend  that  many  of  the  present 
specific  government  regulations  about  the  mining  of  the 
coal  are  impracticable,  and  that  others,  so  far  as  actual 
operations  go,  take  the  management  of  the  business  out 
of  the  operator's  hands  to  such  an  extent  that  no  experi- 
enced coal  man  would  undertake  to  mine  coal  under  the 
lease  the  government  gives,  with  any  hope  of  having  an 
assured  and  profitable  business;  or,  in  other  words,  that 
the  coal  operator  under  a  government  lease  is  at  the  will 
and  whim  of  the  legislators  in  Washington,  and  that 
knowing  their  ignorance  of  Alaskan  affairs,  he  feels  his 
business  would  be  on  an  exceedingly  unstable  foun- 
dation. 

An  editorial  in  the  Alaska  Daily  Empire  of  Juneau 
well  voices  the  sentiments  of  Alaskans  on  this  point.  It 
says,  "  The  resources  of  Alaska  are  not  valuable  to  the 
government  from  a  landlord's  standpoint.     They  are  only 


410        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

valuable  to  the  government  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States  when  utilized  and  giving  profitable  employment 
to  men  and  women  who  thereby  are  given  opportunity 
to  add  to  the  producing  and  consuming  powers  of  the 
country,  and  to  the  volume  of  its  industry  and  trade. 
Alaska  is  most  valuable  to  the  United  States  in  the  market 
which  she  affords  for  $30,000,000  or  more  of  their 
products,  and  the  gold,  foodstuffs  and  other  products 
which  she  sends  for  their  use.  Every  year  that  Alaska's 
resources  are  kept  locked  up  is  therefore  a  year  of  waste. 

"If  title  to  the  resources  of  Alaska  is  to  remain  in  the 
Federal  government,  no  territorial  or  State  legislature 
or  referendum  to  the  people  within  the  present  Territory 
of  future  State  or  States  can  have  any  authority  over 
them.  Federal  ownership  means  Federal  government, 
—  government  from  Washington.  Private  property  is 
subject  to  the  laws  and  will  of  the  commonwealth,  there- 
fore private  ownership  means  control  by  the  people  who 
live  in  the  vicinity  of  the  resources  and  know  what  they 
mean  and  how  they  should  be  utilized  for  the  good  of 
the  public.  Government  from  Washington  means  gov- 
ernment by  those  who  are  aliens  as  far  as  Alaska  is  con- 
cerned,—  government  by  those  whose  interest  in  Alaska 
is  a  theory.  Self-government  means  government  by 
those  who  are  vitally  interested  in  the  Territory  and  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions  surrounding  it.  and  who  have 
knowledge  gained  of  interest  and  experience." 

Over  against  these  views  of  home  rule  arc  the  beliefs 
of  the  adherents  of  the  present  system,  who  maintain  that 
it  is  intended  as  a  safeguard  against  monopoly,  and  to 
keep  the  coal  and  other  resources  now  conserved  in  the 
hands  of  the  people,  so  that  supply  and  cost  to  them  can 
always  be  regulated  for  their  own  benefit;  that  the  regu- 
lations governing  the  mining  are  no  more  severe  than 


The  Present  Complicated  Government    411 

many  state  laws  governing  this  industry  and  that  the  man 
who  wants  to  do  what  is  honest  and  just  has  nothing  to 
fear  from  government  supervision. 

The  oil  lands  have  been  completely  withdrawn  and 
until  some  legislative  action  is  taken  in  regard  to  them, 
they  are  absolutely  useless,  and  all  the  various  petroleum 
products  that  Alaska  needs,  and  of  which  her  consump- 
tion is  great,  must  be  shipped  in. 

The  folly  of  this  sort  of  conservation  and  how  it  affects 
not  only  Alaska  but  the  welfare  of  the  whole  country 
was  brought  out  during  our  war  with  Germany  by  Mr. 
Peabody,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Coal  Produc- 
tion of  the  National  Council  of  Defense.  He  said,  in  a 
hearing  before  the  United  States  Senate : 

"  Any  laws  that  can  be  passed  that  will  loosen  up  the 
reserve  fuel  and  oil  supplies  of  Alaska  should  be  adopted. 
We  are  shipping  every  ton  of  coal  we  can  possibly  send 
to  the  West  coast.  It  takes  ninety-two  days  for  a  car 
to  go  from  the  eastern  coal  fields  to  California  and  re- 
turn.    It  is  a  most  horrible  misuse  of  equipment." 

The  Alaskans  do  not  wish  the  resources  of  the  Terri- 
tory to  be  monopolized  or  wasted,  any  more  than  do  the 
legislators  at  Washington,  who  say  that  in  all  these  con- 
servation measures  they  are  merely  saving  these  valuable 
resources  for  the  people.  But  as  ex-President  Taft  has 
said,  "  Conservation  does  not  mean  complete  with- 
drawal," which  is  the  practical  result  of  present  laws,  and 
Alaskans  want  these  laws  so  amended  that  though  this 
wealth  is  preserved  from  monopolies  it  will  still  be  of 
use  to  the  people.  At  present,  monopolies  are  really 
being  served  by  the  conservation  laws,  for  this  great 
wealth  of  Alaska  cannot  be  put  on  the  market  to  keep 
prices  down. 

The   Alaskans    maintain   that   these   matters   can   be 


412        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 


attended  to  through  their  own  legislative  body  more 
intelligently  than  they  can  be  attended  to  in  distant 
Washington. 

The  legislative  power  of  the  Territory  itself  is  vested 
in  a  Territorial  Legislature  consisting  of  a  Senate  and  a 
House  of  Representatives.  The  Senate  consists  of  eight 
members,  two  from  each  of  the  four  judicial  divisions 
into  which  Alaska  is  now  divided.  The  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives consists  of  sixteen  members,  four  from  each  of 
the  four  judicial  divisions.  The  term  of  each  member 
of  the  Senate  is  four  years,  one  member  from  each 
judicial  division  being  elected  every  two  years.  The 
term  of  each  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
is  two  years. 

The  legislature  convenes  biannually  at  Juneau  on  the 
first  Monday  of  March  in  odd  years,  and  the  length  of 
the  session  is  limited  to  sixty  days,  but  the  governor  is 
empowered  to  call  an  extra  session. 

The  executive  power  is  vested  in  the  governor,  who  is 
appointed  by  the  President  for  a  term  of  four  years  by 
and  with  the  advice  of  the  United  States  Senate. 

That  Alaskans  are  quite  fit  to  govern  themselves  prop- 
erly is  shown  by  the  first  acts  passed  by  the  Territorial 
legislature,  which  included  women's  suffrage,  prohibition, 
and  appropriations  for  schools,  roads,  humanitarian  pur- 
poses, the  national  defense  and  fish  hatcheries.  Under 
Federal  control,  many  schools  were  closed  during  the 
winter.  Now  that  the  Territory  has  taken  up  their  main- 
tenance they  are  kept  open  the  entire  school  year.  Such 
legislation  does  not  seem  like  the  work  of  those  incapable 
of  managing  their  own  affairs,  and  points  to  a  govern- 
ment that  would  work  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Terri- 
tory were  it  given  a  freer  hand. 

That  something  should  be  done  to  straighten  out  this 


The  Present  Complicated  Government    413 


confusion  and  interlocking  of  authority  all  who  have 
the  interests  of  Alaska  at  heart  are  agreed.  If  the  Terri- 
tory is  yet  too  young  to  be  entirely  trusted,  a  directorate 
has  been  suggested  as  an  improvement  upon  present 
methods.  Secretary  Lane  has  sponsored  this  end  of  it. 
He  says : 

"  Alaska's  remoteness  alone  makes  anything  like  super- 
vision by  bureaus  located  at  Washington  more  or  less 
perfunctory  and  superficial.  What  we  now  have  in 
Alaska  is  little  more  than  a  number  of  independent  and 
unrelated  agents,  acting  largely  upon  their  own  initiative, 
each  attending  to  some  special  branch  of  police  work, 
and  no  branch  adequately  organized  to  cope  with  its  own 
problems  without  even  attempting  to  coordinate  its  work 
with  that  of  the  other  branches. 

"  But  the  task  of  administering  the  laws  relating  to 
the  disposal  and  development  of  the  public  domain  and 
resources  in  Alaska  is  also  a  task  of  construction.  The 
problem  is  the  settlement  and  development  of  the  country 
and  of  all  its  resources  to  the  best  advantage.  Each 
branch  of  work  now^  under  a  different  supervision  is  a 
part  of  one  and  the  same  problem.  It  is  a  huge  task 
that  is  ahead,  but  it  is  a  single  task  and  to  undertake  it 
successfully  it  must  be  put  into  the  hands  of  a  single 
authoritative  directorate. 

"  To  secure  effectiveness,  we  must  eliminate  the  short- 
comings of  the  present  system,  its  delays,  red  tape,  cir- 
cumlocution, divisions  and  overlapping  of  authority,  and 
ineffectiveness,  as  well  as  the  discouragements  it  offers 
to  settlers  whom  we  want  to  encourage,  and  substitute 
machinery  that  will  be  direct,  prompt  and  certain  In  Its 
operation. 

"  The  members  of  the  proposed  development  board 
would  be  appointed  by  the  President  and  approved  by 


414        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

the  Senate.  Their  salaries  would  be  sufficient  to  enable 
men  of  ability  to  devote  themselves  exclusively  to  the 
work  in  hand.  This  board  would  have  its  headquarters 
in  Alaska  and  its  members  would  live  in  the  Territory. 
It  would  have  authority  to  appoint  its  own  agents  and 
to  supervise  their  work.  The  board  would  make  its  re- 
ports and  be  directly  responsible  for  its  actions  to  a  single 
cabinet  officer,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  whose 
department  is  most  closely  identified  with  Alaskan  af- 
fairs and  probably  best  equipped  by  experience  and 
organization  to  handle  such  matters. 

"  It  is  proposed  and  urged  that  the  Board  should 
take  over  such  authority,  now  exercised  by  various  de- 
partments and  bureaus,  as  may  be  necessary  to  give  it 
supervision  over  practically  the  entire  public  domain  and 
all  the  natural  resources  of  Alaska,  and  control  of  such 
activities  as  are  closely  related  and  essential  to  the  devel- 
opment of  the  physical  resources  of  the  country. 

"  It  is  doubtful  if  the  proposed  consolidation  of  Alas- 
kan administration  agencies  should  make  any  change  in 
the  work  of  purely  scientific  and  investigative  bureaus, 
whose  activities  in  Alaska  are  not  localized,  and  are  car- 
ried on  with  the  same  organization  and  machinery,  and 
as  a  part  of  general  work  of  national  meaning  and  appli- 
cation, which  necessitates  highly  expert  knowledge, 
equipment  and  cooperation.  The  information  and  re- 
sults attained  by  these  bureaus  should  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  Development  Board  for  local  use  and  appli- 
cation, just  as  it  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  State  and  local 
administrative  authorities  elsewhere  for  application  and 
use. 

"  It  is  not  suggested  of  course  that  there  should  be  any 
change  in  the  authority  or  activities  in  Alaska  of  the 
Department  of  Justice,  the  Treasury  or  the  Post  Office 


The  Present  Complicated  Government    415 

Departments,  or  the  general  functions  of  the  Army  or 
Navy  Departments  there.  Collection  and  delivery  of  the 
mails,  collection  of  the  public  revenue,  maintenance  of 
the  Army  and  Navy  and  armed  defenses,  are  functions 
so  purely  national  in  scope,  regardless  of  where  any  par- 
ticular act  in  connection  with  them  may  be  performed, 
that  there  would  be  no  justification  for  suggesting  divi- 
sion of  these  duties,  more  than  there  would  be  for  sug- 
gesting that  the  cost  of  any  of  these  services  should  be 
locally  apportioned  and  assessed.  Good  mail  service  in 
Alaska  is  as  important  to  the  people  of  all  the  States  as 
to  their  correspondents  in  Alaska.  Although  the  Army 
and  Navy  Departments  may  spend  large  sums  of  money 
for  the  defense  of  Alaska,  these  expenditures  should  no 
more  be  charged  to  the  Territory  locally  than  to  Maine 
or  Florida. 

"  From  time  to  time  new  laws  and  new  policies  must 
be  adopted  by  Congress  to  enable  the  fullest  fruition  of 
the  promises  of  Alaska.  Under  present  conditions 
we  have  recommendations  from  numerous  sources  for 
changes  in  the  laws  and  policies.  These  recommenda- 
tions have  to  do,  usually,  with  only  a  single  phase  of  the 
big  problem  of  how  the  country  may  best  and  quickest 
be  developed.  Each  bureau  or  department  charged  with 
only  certain  duties  and  responsibilities,  recommends 
changes  in  the  laws  affecting  the  particular  function  it 
performs.  There  is  no  place  where  these  various  chang- 
ing needs  of  the  country  are  brought  together,  correlated 
and  framed  into  a  consistent,  workable,  general  program 
or  policy,  which  considers  in  all  its  aspects  the  needs  of 
the  whole  country.  Such  a  duty  the  proposed  Board 
would  perform. 

"  Alaska  can  be  made  self-supporting  within  a  very 
few  years,  as  soon  as  conditions  are  created  which  will 


416        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

enable  settlement  and  development  and  produce  revenues. 
So  far,  the  government  has  done  little,  aside  from  care 
of  the  seal  herd,  to  bring  returns.  It  is  unreasonable  to 
expect  revenue  from  an  undeveloped  and  unsettled 
country. 

"  With  disbursements  and  receipts  passing  through  one 
and  the  same  channel,  with  a  broad  concept  of  needs  and 
conditions  on  the  part  of  a  single  responsible  body,  and 
with  revenues  and  expenditures  reported  to  and  by  this 
Board,  there  could  be  presented  to  Congress  each  year  a 
comprehensive  Alaskan  budget  which  should  make  legis- 
lation simpler  and  more  intelligent. 

"  But  Alaskan  resources  must  be  dealt  with  as  a  whole, 
as  a  single  problem  of  large  management." 

This  idea  of  a  centralized  local  body  is  surely  a  step 
forward.  It  would  efficiently  and  at  once  put  affairs  in 
the  Territory  on  a  business  basis,  and  until  the  time  that 
the  government  at  Washington  feels  that  the  Territory 
could  assume  full  management  and  responsibility,  it 
would  certainly  direct  Alaskan  affairs  better  than  they 
are  being  handled  at  present. 

Mr,  J.  L.  McPherson,  Secretary  of  the  Alaskan  Bureau 
of  the  Seattle  Chamber  of  Commerce,  in  speaking  of  the 
government  Alaska  needs,  says : 

"  Alaska.  '  the  land  of  gold,'  is  to-day  a  land  of  food 
and  metals.  Last  year  the  Alaska  production  in  metals 
was  greater  in  value  than  that  produced  in  the  state  of 
California,  while  in  fish  food  Alaska  produced  in  excess 
of  the  combined  production  of  Washington,  Oregon, 
British  Columbia  and  California.  Alaska,  in  1917, 
shipped  out  products  of  a  value  in  excess  of  $97,000,000, 
over  four  times  its  greatest  gold  production  for  any  one 
year. 

"  Despite  this  wonderful  showing,  and  the  fact  that 


The  Present  Complicated  Government    417 


the  government  was  employing  over  five  thousand  men 
in  the  construction  of  the  Alaskan  government  railroad, 
the  population  of  Alaska  declined  over  four  thousand, 
a  condition  unknown  in  the  development  of  any  country 
in  the  world's  history.  There  is  a  reason  for  this  decline 
of  population  and  a  remedy.  The  reason  is  that  our 
present  policy  toward  Alaska's  development  is  a  policy 
of  restriction,  instead  of  the  policy  of  encouragement 
necessary  to  the  upholding  of  a  frontier  land.  We  are 
simply  creaming  the  rich  resources  of  Alaska  without 
doing  anything  towards  an  industrial  development  and 
the  building  of  a  permanent  citizenry.  Under  such  con- 
ditions, Alaska  can  never  be  other  than  a  source  of 
national  weakness.  Her  enormous  resources  are  already 
proven  so  great  as  to  warrant  a  strong  prosperous  citi- 
zenry that  will  make  Alaska  a  source  of  ever  increasing 
national  strength. 

"  The  remedy  can  be  briefly  and  concisely  stated  : 

"  First  —  The  full  measure  of  home  rule  accorded  to 
all  the  western  Territories.  No  frontier  people  ever  dem- 
onstrated their  ability  to  govern  themselves  as  have  the 
people  of  Alaska. 

"  Second  —  Coordinated  direction  of  the  administra- 
tive functions  of  all  Federal  bureaus  having  to  do  with 
Alaskan  resources.  These  functions  cannot  be  directed 
by  men  at  desks  four  thousand  to  six  thousand  miles  dis- 
tant, who  know  nothing  of  Alaskan  conditions. 

"  Third  —  The  enactment  of  laws  affecting  land  titles 
and  the  development  of  Alaska's  resources  that  will  en- 
courage rather  than  restrict  —  laws  that  are  only  open 
to  one  construction;  that  will  protect  against  monopoly 
and  that  will  provide  for  the  development  of  Alaska's 
rich  resources,  so  as  to  assure  a  strong  and  prosperous 
citizenry." 


418        Alaska,  Our  Beautiful  Northland 

From  the  very  beginning  of  government  control, 
Alaska  has  received  inadequate  and  unintelligent  atten- 
tion. Its  purchase  was  widely  jeered  and  hooted.  It 
was  called  Icebergia,  Walrussia,  Polaria  and  other  con- 
temptuous names.  "  What  shall  we  do  with  it?  Make 
it  a  penal  colony  ?  "  was  asked.  And  so  great  was  the 
misapprehension  about  it  that  an  editor  of  a  leading  paper 
said,  "  No  energy  of  the  American  people  will  be  sufficient 
to  make  mining  profitable  in  sixty  degrees  north  latitude. 
Ninety-one  one-hundredths  of  the  territory  is  absolutely 
worthless." 

For  thirty  years  the  country  had  practically  no  gov- 
ernment. At  first  a  military  governor  was  appointed  and 
a  few  troops  were  sent  to  the  Territory.  Later,  these 
were  withdrawn.  During  this  period  when  an  outbreak 
from  the  Indians  was  feared  in  the  southeastern  part,  the 
British  government  was  called  on  for  aid. 

In  1881  so  dire  was  the  extremity  of  the  settlers  that 
the  following  appeal  was  sent  to  Congress  by  the  resi- 
dents of  the  southeastern  part :  "  There  are  no  courts  of 
record  by  which  title  to  property  may  be  established  or 
conflicting  claims  adjudicated,  or  estates  administered, 
or  naturalization  or  other  privileges  acquired,  debts  col- 
lected or  the  commercial  advantages  of  laws  secured. 
Persons  accused  of  crimes  or  misdemeanors  are  subject 
to  the  arbitrary  will  of  a  military  or  naval  commander, 
thrown  into  prison  and  kept  there  for  months  without 
trial,  or  punished  by  imprisonment  upon  simple  accusa- 
tion and  without  verdict  of  a  jury." 

Despite  the  clear  picture  of  injustice  and  neglect  here 
presented  little  was  done.  In  1883,  Alaska  was  still  but 
a  customs  district  with  a  collector  and  a  few  deputies. 
The  laws  were  but  the  regulations  made  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and   for  protection  the  people  had  to 


The  Present  Complicated  Government    419 

depend  upon  a  single  war  vessel,  the  crew  of  which  often 
had  to  perform  police  duty  among  the  settlements  of  the 
Alexander  Archipelago. 

Finally  a  bill  was  passed  in  Congress  by  which  a  civil 
government  was  given.  A  governor  was  appointed,  a 
district  court  established  and  four  commissioners  named. 
But  actual  beneficial  results  were  almost  nil.  It  was  not 
until  the  Klondike  rush  that  the  government  at  Washing- 
ton really  took  Alaska  seriously.  Even  then  compara- 
tively little  was  done  in  comparfson  with  the  need.  It  is 
only  within  the  last  decade  that  any  legislative  action 
worthy  the  name  has  been  taken  and  this  is  so  limited  in 
contrast  with  what  is  required,  and,  as  has  been  shown, 
so  confused  and  contradictory,  that  it  yet  does  not  meas- 
ure up  to  what  Alaskans  feel  they  should  have. 

In  his  great  speech  in  the  Senate,  when  the  purchase 
was  under  discussion,  Charles  Sumner  said : 

"  Your  most  important  endowment  will  be  the  repub- 
lican government,  a  source  of  wealth  more  inexhaustible 
than  fisheries.  Bestow  such  a  government  and  you  will 
bestow  what  is  better  than  all  you  can  receive,  whether 
quintals  of  fish,  sands  of  gold,  choicest  of  furs,  or  most 
beautiful  of  ivory." 

A  republican  government  in  its  democratic  American 
sense  is  what  Alaska  needs.  Given  this,  it  will  gener- 
ously make  a  return  that  will  enrich  the  world.  But 
until  it  does  receive  legislative  justice  there  should  be  no 
cessation  in  the  agitation  for  the  improvement  of  present 
methods.  The  people  of  the  whole  country,  by  an  intelli- 
gent interest  in  the  matter  and  an  insistent  demand,  can 
help  forward  the  work.  It  is  to  their  advantage  to  do 
so,  for  what  helps  one  helps  all.  The  honest  and  con- 
structive development  of  Alaska's  resources  will  benefit 
every  citizen  and  every  section  of  our  great  country. 

THE    END 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ballou,  M.  M.  :  New  Eldorado. 
Bancroft,  H.  H.  :  History  of  Alaska. 

Brooks,  A.  H. :   Mineral  Resources  of  Alaska.    (Goverament  Re- 
port.) 

The  Mount  McKinley  Region.     (Government  Report.) 

Browne,  B.  :  Conquest  of  Mount  McKinley. 

Burroughs,  John  :  Far  and  Near. 

Dall,  William  H.  :  Alaska  and  its  Resources. 

De  Windt,  H.  :  Through  the  Gold  Fields  of  Alaska. 

Dole,  N.  H.  :  Our  Northern  Domain. 

Dunn,  R.  :  The  Shameless  Diary  of  an  Explorer. 

GiLMAN,  Mrs.  Isabel  Ambler  :  Alaskaland. 

Gordon,  G.  B.  :  In  the  Alaskan  Wilderness. 

Over  the  Last  Frontier. 

Greely,  a.  W.  :  Handbook  of  Alaska. 

Harriman  Alaska  Expedition. 

Heilprin,  Angelo  :  Alaska  and  the  Klondike. 

Herron,  Joseph  :  Explorations  in  Alaska. 

Higginson,  Ella  :  Alaska,  The  Great  Country. 

James,  Bushrod  :  Alaska,  Its  Neglected  Past,  Its  Brilliant  Future. 

Muir,  John  :  Travels  in  Alaska. 

Powell,  Addison  :  Trailing  and  Camping  in  Alaska. 

ScHWATKA,  F. :  Along  Alaska's  Great  River. 

SciDMORE,  E.  R.  :  Alaska  and  the  Sitkan  Archipelago. 

Scull,  E.  M.  :  Hunting  in  the  Arctic  and  Alaska. 

Sheldon,  Charles  :  The  Wilderness  of  the  Upper  Yukon. 

Stuck,  Hudson  :  Voyages  on  the  Yukon  and  Its  Tributaries. 

Ten  Thousand  Miles  with  a  Dog  Sled. 

The  Ascent  of  Denali. 

Underwood,  J.  J. :  Alaska :  An  Empire  in  the  Making. 


42J 


INDEX 


Abercrombie  Canyon,  167. 

A  B  Mountain,  56. 

Afognak,  173. 

Agate,  183. 

Agricultural  College,  146,  332. 

Agriculture,  11,  320-332. 

Alaska      Anthracite      Railroad, 

359- 
Alaska  Central  Railroad,  345. 
Alaska  Derby,  202,  203. 
Alaska  Engineering  Commission, 

142,  173.  348- 
Alaska-Gastineau  Mine,  47,  48, 

272. 
Alaska- Juneau     Mine,    47,     48, 

272. 
Alaska  Legislature,  223,  412. 
Alaska  Northern  Railroad  Com- 
pany, 345. 
Alaska  Peninsula,  173,  175,  178, 

179,  232,  269,  279,  286,  287. 
Alaska  Road  Commission,   155, 

337. 
Alert  Bay,  21. 
Aleutian     Indians,     or     Aleuts, 

235,  309,  310.  361,  362. 
Aleutian  Islands,   13,   173,   175, 

179-184,  232,  309,  331,  368, 

369,  396,  397.  405- 
Alexander  Archipelago,  39. 
Amber,  183. 
Anchorage,    15,    173,    280,    348, 

349- 
Andreanof  or  Andreanofski,  183. 
Andreafski,  191. 
Antimony,  8. 
Anvik,  190. 
Anvil  Creek,  196. 
Anvil  Mountain,  198. 
Arctic  Brotherhood,  56,  105. 
Area,  12. 

Atka,  183,  303,  392,  397. 
Atlin,  72,  75. 

Atlin  Lake,  52,  69,  74,  75. 
Attu,  183,  363. 
Auk  Lake,  52. 


B 

Baird  Glacier,  167. 
Baker,  Mount,  19. 
Baltimore  Glacier,  172. 
Baranof,   Alexander,   228,    239- 

243,  365- 

Barnard  Glacier,  172. 

Barnard,  Lieutenant  J.  J.,  187, 
188. 

Barytes,  8,  289. 

Beach,  Rex,  138. 

Bear,  259,  260. 

Beaver,  9. 

Beaver  (town),  138. 

Beleke,  298. 

Bennett,  Lake,  69,  71,  118,  119. 

Bering  River,  280,  281,  359. 

Bering,  Vitus,  229-233. 

Bethel,  215. 

Bettles,  138,  208,  209. 

Big  Salmon,  92. 

Birds,  263-267. 

Bluestone  District,  200. 

Bluff,  193. 

Bogslop  Islands,  180. 

Bompas,  Bishop,  131,  367. 

Bonanza  Creek  (Yukon  Terri- 
tory), 121,  124,  125,  128. 

Boundary,  243,  247,  248. 

British  Columbia,  19. 

Broad  Pass,  355. 

Browne,  Belmore,  354. 

Bryn  Mawr  Glacier,  172. 

Bureau  of  Education  for  the 
Natives,  369-382. 

Bureau  of  Mines,  289-292. 

Burroughs,  John,  3,  275. 

C 

Calico  Bluff,  133. 
California,  241,  243. 
Campbell,  Robert,  96,  97. 
Canadian   Pacific   Steamers,  15, 

16. 
Candle,  199,  200,  203,  269. 
Candlefish,  302,  303,  392. 


423 


424 


Index 


Cape  Prince  of  Wales,  185,  195. 

Cape  York,  200. 

Carcross,  71,  72,  84. 

Caribou,  257,  258. 

Caribou  Crossing,  71. 

Carmack,  George,  93,  113,  114- 

Caro,  138,  155,  210. 

Catherine  Archipelago,  183. 

Catherine  II,  183,  229. 

Cascade  Mountains,  19. 

Cassiar  Bar,  92. 

Chandalar,  209,  210,  277. 

Chena,  143. 

Childs  Glacier,  167,  357,  358- 

Chilkat  Indians,  97. 

Chilkoot  Pass,   56,  57,  115,   116. 

Chirikof,  Alexei,  229,  230. 

Chitina,  165,  166. 

Chrome  ore,  8,  287. 

Chugach  National  Forest,  255. 

Cinnabar,  8,  214,  288. 

Circle  City,  100,  133,  269,  284, 

285. 
Clams,  305. 

Climate,  12. 

Coal,  8,  88,  130,  211,  214,  280, 
283. 

Coast  Range,  164. 

Cod,  300,  392. 

Coldfoot,  138,  209. 

College  Fiord,  171,  172. 

Columbia  Glacier,  171. 

Colville  River,  97,  21 1. 

Commerce,  11,  410-419. 

Controller  Bay,  281,  286,  359. 

Cook,  Captain  James,  37,   180, 
193,  219,  237,  238. 

Cook,  Frederick  A.,  353,  354- 

Cook  Inlet,  173,  175.  176,  238, 
243,  287,  349,  368. 

Cooperative  stores,  372,  373. 

Copper,  8,  88,  211,  214,  277-280. 

Copper  Centre,  165. 

Copper    River,    164,    165,    235, 
288,  331. 

Copper  River  and  Northwestern 
Railroad,  166,  278,  356-359- 

Cordova,    115,    152,    155,    167- 
169,  278,  396,  408. 

Council,  199,  359- 

Cross  Sound,  219. 


Dall,  William  Henry,  189,  294, 
352,  3«3.  395- 


Davidson  Glacier,  53. 

Dawson,   54,  87,    loo-iio,   119, 

122. 
Dawson,  Dr.  George,  119. 
Dead  Horse  Gulch,  66,  117. 
Delta  River,  160. 
Denver  Glacier,  56. 
Dewey,  Mount,  56. 
Dikeman,  216. 
Diomede  Islands,  184,  369. 
Discover3%  78. 
Disenchantment  Bay,  237. 
Dog  Race,  202,  203. 
Douglas,  47. 
Dredging,    79,     108,    199,    201, 

216,  271,  272. 
Drum,  Mount,  164. 
Duncan,  William,  32-36. 
Dutch  Harbor,  12,  181,  182. 
Dyea,  56,  116. 

E 

Eagle,  12,  131,  132,  337. 

Eagle  Nest  Rock,  93. 

Edgecumbe.  Mount,  220,  236. 

Eldorado  Creek,  Yukon  Terri- 
tory, 121. 

Endicott  Mountains,  208. 

English  Bay,  20. 

English  Explorations,  236,  237. 

Eskimos,  195,  196,  360-363, 
374-380. 

Etolin,  Governor,  244. 


Fairbanks,     54,     143-152,     155, 
156,  269,  277,  284,  325,  327- 

329,  383.  385- 
Fairweather,  Cape,  238. 
"  Fifty-four,  Forty,  or  Fight,"  36. 
Fiftymile  River,  97. 
Fire  Island,  181. 
Fish,  9,  308-319. 
Five  Finger  Rapids,  94. 
Flat  City,  216. 
Flat  Creek,  216. 
Fort  Egbert,  132. 
Fort  Gibbon,  140,  150,  155. 
Fort  Reliance,  100,  in. 
Fort  Selkirk,  96,  98,  112. 
Fort  Simpson,  33. 
Fort  Victoria,  19. 
Fort  Yukon,  97,  100,  135,  210, 
383- 


Index 


425 


Fortymile,    loo,    112,    129-131, 
269,  331. 

Fox  (town),  154. 
Fox  farming,  71,  315,  316. 
Fox  Islands,  183. 
Fraser  Falls,  100. 
Frederick  Sound,  45. 
French  explorations,  238. 
Furs,  9,  308-319. 


Galloway  cattle,  326. 
Gannett,  Henry,  3. 
Gastineau  Channel,  47,  53. 
Georgeson,  Prof.  C.  C.,  324. 
Glacier  Bay,  13,  52. 
Gold,  7,  210,  214,  215,  268-277. 
Gold  Bottom  Creek,  113. 
Gold  Creek  Canyon,  50. 
Gold  Run  Creek,  121. 
Golovin  Bay,  196. 
Government  Railroad,  142,  143, 

151.  331,  343-355- 
Graphite,  8. 

Greek  Church,  221,  222. 
Griggs,  Robert  F.,  177. 
Gulf  of  Georgia,  19,  20. 
Gypsum,  8. 

H 

Haines,  54,  323,  366. 

Halibut,  300. 

Harper,    Arthur,    98,    100,    iii, 

134.  352- 
Harriman  Expedition,  3. 
Harriman  Fiord,  171,  172. 
Harrisburg,  48. 
Harris,  Richards,  48,  273. 
Harvard  Glacier,  172. 
Hawaii,  182. 
Hayes,  Mount,  160. 
Hecate  Strait,  37. 
Henderson,  Robert,  113,  114. 
Herring,  301,  302. 
Holmes,  Joseph,  291,  292. 
Holy  Cross  Mission,  190,  367. 
Holyoke  Glacier,  172. 
Hootalinqua     or     Hootalinkwa 

River,  92. 
Hot  Springs,  139,  205. 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  19,  20, 

96,  97.  135,  141,  210,  243. 
Hunker  Creek,  121. 
Husky,  335. 


Hydah  Indians,  28,  29,  39,  361. 
Hydraulicking,    108,    199,    271, 

272. 
Hydro-magnesite,  75,  76. 


Icy  Strait,  219. 

Iditerod,  150,  215-217,  270. 

Ikogmute,  190. 

Iliamna,  Mount,  176. 

Indians,  6,  360-382. 

Indian  Park,  226. 

Indian   River,   226.     In  Yukon 

Territory,  113. 
Innoko,  215,  216. 
Inside  Passage,  15,  20-42,  384. 
Iron,  8. 

J 

Jackson,  Sheldon,  224,  368,  374. 

Jade,  211. 

Japanese  Current,  322,  384. 

Juan  de  Fuca,  19,  37. 

Juneau,    47-49,    269,    272,    273, 

276,  277,  299,  386,  393,  396. 
Juneau,  Joseph,  48,  273. 
Juneau,  Mount,  47. 
Juvenal,  Father,  364,  365. 

K 
Kaltag,  189. 
Kamchatka,  182,  309. 
Kantishna  River,  212. 
Kasan,  29,  39. 
Katalla,  286. 

Katmai,  Mount,  2,  176-179. 
Kelp,  394. 
Kenai,  Lake,  347. 
Kenai  Peninsula,  173,  269,  279, 

282,  287,  288,  346,  347. 
Kennicott  Mines,  8. 
Kennicott,  Robert,  188,  189. 
Ketchikan,  37,  38,  269,  279,  300, 

366,  396. 
Keystone  Canyon,  170. 
Klondike  River,  107,  iii,  113. 
Knik  Arm,  349. 
Kobuk  River,  210,  368. 
Kodiak,  173-175.  i77,  232,  236, 

243,  298,  300,  322,  325,  326, 

331,  395- 
Kokrines,  186. 
Kolmakof,  214,  215. 
Koserefsky,  190. 


426 


Index 


Kotzebue  Sound,  199,  200. 
Kougarok  District,  200. 
Koyukuk  River,   187,  207,  210, 

270. 
Kuskokwim   Country,   212-215, 

269,  283,  288,  331,  367,  368, 

395. 
Kuskokwim  River,  191,  212,  213, 

288. 
Kwikpak,  141,  186. 


Lead,  8. 

Lebarge,  Lake,  91,  119. 

Le  Barge,  Michael,  91. 

Le  Conte  Glacier,  41,  45. 

Lewes  River,  97,  119. 

Lewis  Lake,  84. 

Llewellyn  Glacier,  79,  81-83. 

Log  cabin,  69. 

Lookout  Mountain,  208. 

Lovers'  Lane,  226. 

Lukeen,  Ivan,  214. 

Lukeen's  Fort,  215. 

Lynn  Canal,  15,  53. 

M 

MacmiUan  River,  99. 
Magnesite,  75,  76. 
Malamute,  334,  335. 
Malaspina,  Alejandro,  237. 
Malaspina  Glacier,  4,  13,  219. 
Marble,  8,  285. 
Marsh,  Lake,  119. 
Matanuska,  280,  281,  325,  349. 
Mayo,  Alfred,  100,  134,  352. 
McDonald,     Archdeacon,     136, 

367- 
McKinley,  Mount,  4,  142,  349- 

355- 

McQuesten,  Jack,  100,  iii,  134. 

Mendenhall  Glacier,  51. 

Metlakatla,  32,  35,  36. 

Midnight  Sun,  134,  135. 

Miles  Canyon,  84,  85,  119. 

Miles  Glacier,  167,  357,  358. 

Minto,  96. 

Mink  farming,  318,  319. 

Missions,  33-36,  131,  136.  Bap- 
tist, 368 ;  Congregational,  368 
Church  of  England,  367 
Methodist,  181,  366,  368 
Moravian,  215,  367;  Prcs 
byterian,  223,  224,  366,  368 


Protestant     Episcopal,      136, 

139,     142,     157,     190,     367; 

Roman    Catholic,    190,    367 ; 

Russian,     190;        Society    of 

Friends,  368. 
Molybdenum,  8. 
Monroe  Doctrine,  244. 
Moose,  258,  259. 
Moosehide,  107. 
Mount  McKinley  National  Park, 

349-351- 
Muir  Glacier,  13,  52,  219. 
Muir,  John,  3,  13,  272. 
Muldrow  Glacier,  350,  354. 
Murray,  Alexander,  135. 

N 

National     Geographic     Society, 

176,  177. 
Near  Islands,  183. 
Nelson  Schools,  387. 
Nenana,  142,  150,  355. 
Nenana   Coal   Fields,   280,   282, 

355- 
Nome,    12,    15,    155,    185,    192- 

203,  217,  269,  359,  367,  385, 

398-400. 
Nome  River,  199. 
Nootka,  236. 
Norfolk  Sound,  241. 
Northern  Commercial  Company, 

134- 
Norton  Bay,  192. 
Novo  Arkhangelsk,  241. 
Nugget  Creek,  51. 
Nulato,  187-189,  207. 
Nunivak  Island,  184,  395. 


O 

Obsidian,  183. 
Ogilvie,  100,  112. 
Ogilvie,  William,  57,  108,  131. 
Okalee  Channel,  359. 
Olympic  Mountains,  17,  19. 
Oolichan,  302,  303. 
Oomiak,  195. 
Oregon,  36. 


Parker,  Herschel,  354. 
Pedro,  Felix,  144.  145. 
Pelagic  scaling,  310,  311. 


Index 


427 


Pelly  River,  40,  69,  96-99. 
Peter  the  Great,  229,  244. 
Petersburg,  44,  45. 
Petroleum,  211,  285. 
Philippine  Islands,  12,  182. 
Pioneers'  Home,  223. 
Placer  gold,    199;   mining,  128, 

270-272. 
Platinum,  8,  288. 
Pogrumnoi,  Mount,  180. 
Porcupine  River,  100,  136. 
Port  Wells,  170,  171. 
Potlatch,  22-25. 
Pribilof   Islands,    11,    184,    243, 

311,  392,  393. 
Prince  of  Wales  Island,  39,  41, 

279,  285,  288. 
Prince  Rupert,  32. 
Prince  William  Sound,  172,  235, 

278. 
Prybilof,    Gerassim,     184,    236, 

310. 
Pullen,  Mrs.  Harriet,  62-64. 


Q 

Quartz,  201,  272,  277. 
Queen  Charlotte  Sound,  30. 


R 

Radcliflfe  Glacier,  172. 

Rampart,  138,  325,  326. 

Rat  Islands,  183. 

Ready  Bullion  Creek,  125. 

Redoubt,  Mount,  176. 

Redoubt  St.  Michael,  97. 

Reed,  Frank  H.,  61. 

Reindeer,  10,  374-378,  395- 

Resurrection  Bay,  240. 

Revillagigedo,  37. 

Richardson,      Brigadier-General 

Wilds,  4,  155. 
Rink  Rapids,  94. 
Roberts,  Mount,  47,  50. 
Rockwell,  48. 
Ross,  California,  243. 
Routes  of  Travel,  15,  16. 
Royal      Northwest      Mounted 

Police,  87. 
Ruby,  150,  186,  187. 
Rudyerd  Bay,  13,  38,  39. 
Russian     American     Company, 

134.  241,  245. 
Russian  Mission,  190. 


St.  Elias  Island,  231. 

St.  Elias,  Mount,  238. 

St.  Elias  Range,  218. 

St.   Lawrence  Island,   184,  369, 

371- 
St.  Matthew  Islands,  184. 
St.  Michael,  115,  191,  192. 
Salchaket,  157. 
Salmon,  293-300. 
Salmon  hatcheries,  299. 
Sandwich  Islands,  185,  241. 
Sanford,  Mount,  164. 
San  Jacinto,  Mount,  236. 
School  of  Mines,  289,  292. 
Seals,  310-313.  392- 
Sea  otter,  234,  308-310. 
Seattle,    15,    17,    54,    115,    182, 

185,  323,  396. 
Service,  Robert,  102,  103. 
Seward,  12,  15,  172,  280,  345. 
Seward,  Fort  William  Henry,  54. 
Seward  Peninsula,  185,  199,  200, 

206,  269,  283,  284,  288,  359, 

395- 
Seward,  William  H.,  i,  246,  333, 

345- 
Shageluk  Slough,  190. 
Shakes  House,  chief,  41. 
Sheep  Mountains,  160. 
Sheldon    Jackson    School,    223, 

224. 
Sheldon,  359. 
Shelikof,  Grigor,  235,  236,  238, 

239,  364- 
Shipbuilding,  240,  241,  346. 
Ship  Island,  180. 
Shishaldin,  Mount,  180. 
Shumagin  Islands,  232. 
Siberia,  182,  228,  322,  396-400. 
Silver,  8,  88,  210. 
Silver  Row  Basin,  50. 
Sitka,  2,  6,  12,  49,  52,  218,  220- 

228,  241,  243,  244,  246,  322, 

325,  366. 
Sixtymile,  100. 
Skagway,    15,    54-62,    64,    n6, 

300,  396. 
Sledge  Island,  193,  195. 
Smith  Glacier,  172. 
Smith,  Soapy,  59—62. 
Snake  River,  194,  195,  199. 
Solomon,  199. 
Spanish   Explorations,   37,   236, 

237- 


428 


Index 


spencer  Glacier,  347. 

Stanley  Park,  20. 

Stefansson,      Vilhjalmur,      206, 

211,  395- 
Steller,    George    Wilhelm,    229, 

231,  232. 
Stewart  River,  99,  100,  112. 
Stick  Indians,  97. 
Stikine  River,  40,  41,  92,  115. 
Stuck,  Hudson,  351,  355. 
Sulphur,  182. 
Summit  Lake,  68. 
Sumner,  Charles,  246,  333,  419. 
Surprise  Lake,  79. 


Taku  Glacier,  46. 

Taku  Inlet,  46,  52. 

Taku  River,  47,  52. 

Tanana,  12,  139,  140. 

Tanana   River,    140,    141,    156, 

157,  160,  287. 
Tanana  Valley,  150,  331. 
Tantalus  Blufif,  93. 
Teller,  199,  200. 
Tenderfoot  Creek,  159. 
Teslin,  Lake,  40,  115. 
Teslin  River,  92. 
Thane,  47. 

Thirtymile  River,  92,  97,  U9. 
Timber,  10,  254-256,  394,  395- 
Tin,  8,  9,  201,  283-285,  391. 
Tolovana,  142. 
Tougas  National  Forest,  255. 
Totem  poles,  25-28,  39,  40. 
Treadwell    Mines,    7,    47,    48, 

273-276. 
Trout,  306. 
Timgsten,  8,  289. 
Tumagain  Arm,  238,  347,  348. 


U 

Unalaklik,  189,  193. 

Unalaska,  12,  180-183,  243,  367, 

397- 

Unimak  Island,  180-183. 
Unimak  Pass,  184,  397. 
Upper     Ramparts     of     Yukon, 
99- 


V 

Valdez,  12,  115,  132,  152,  155, 
169,  170,  172,  278,  337. 

Vancouver,  19,  20. 

Vancouver,  George,  19,  37,  53, 
237.  238,  352. 

Vancouver  Island,  18,  19. 

Vassar  Glacier,  172. 

Veniaminof,  Father  Innocen- 
tius,  180,  365,  366. 

Victoria,  18,  19. 

Victoria  Rock,  99. 

W 

Walrus,  304. 

Watson  River,  84. 

Wellesley  Glacier,  172. 

Western  Union  Telegraph  Ex- 
pedition, 189. 

Whales,  303,  304. 

White  Horse,  88,  97. 

White  Horse  Rapids,  85,  88, 
119. 

White  Pass,  56,  57,  65-68,  115, 
117. 

White  Pass  and  Yukon  Route, 
64. 

White  Pass  City,  64,  66. 

White  River,  54,  99,  279. 

Wild  berries,  252,  253. 

Wild  flowers,  249-252. 

Wild  vegetables,  253-254. 

Windy  Ann,  119. 

Wrangell,  40,  92,  366,  396. 

Wrangell,  Baron,  40,  244. 

Wrangell,  Mount,  164,  165. 

Wrangell  Narrows,  43. 


Yakataga,  286,  287. 
Yale  Glacier,  172. 
York  Mountains,  284. 
Yukon  Crossing,  95. 
Yukon  Flats,  135. 
Yukon  Ramparts,  139. 
Yukon    River,    4,    68,    88-100, 
119,  129-141,  186-192,  287. 


Zagoskin,  Lieutenant,  187. 


CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 

DATE  DUE 

JUL  06  1984 

JUN  2  0]9Q4 

DEH  UIQmm 

'  m:  «  A  I'^eO 

II IM   1  '^  inon 

JUI1  i  (  lyyy 

1 

CI  39 

UCSD  Libr. 

C^6 


'=7^ 


